Surprise Guest
by theHumbleGM
Summary: AU. Lucy's life had grown rather predictable over the last few years. She worked, she slept, she spent time with her cat, and she drank at the bar on Fridays with her friends. She could use a little excitement, but that was unlikely in the quiet town of Magnolia. That is, until HE shows up in her kitchen. (And why was her cat so happy about it?) (Completed!)
1. Chapter 1

**I know this might be overdone, but I haven't been able to find a demon summoning fanfic that's finished yet and, damn it, I want one! I appreciate any favorites, follows, or reviews!**

**Edit: If this is your first time here, welcome! I have decided to go back through and do a few edits and add a few extra bits to the end, so you may see this showing up on the first page again. I hope you enjoy!**

**As always, happy reading!**

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The air outside was hot and felt good on Lucy's skin as she left the cold lobby behind her. She pulled her sunglasses down onto her nose as Cana exited and walked with her towards the parking lot.

"So what do you say?" Cana asked, pulling down her own sunglasses. "Are you coming tonight?"

"You do know it's only Wednesday, right?"

"So?" Cana lifted her heavy hair off her neck for a moment before pulling it all behind her shoulders. "Who says it has to be a weekend to blow off some steam with a drink after work?"

"Says the hangover you gave me last week," Lucy said with a grin. "You always get me to drink too much, so I refuse to go on a weekday."

"Aw, come on Lucy," Cana whined. "Even Juvia is going tonight!"

"_Only_ because Gray's band is going to be there tonight."

"She's still coming! Don't be a spoil sport, come join us. Please?" Cana hugged Lucy's arm to her as she continued to beg. Lucy shook her off as they made it to Cana's car.

"I'm not coming, Cana, not tonight. I wanna get more of my article done before tomorrow. You know how Mira gets if you fall behind on a project."

Cana shuddered slightly. "I hope I never have to go through that again. It's no wonder they call her the She-Devil." Cana leaned in to start her car. "And she's so sweet, otherwise."

"You know what they say about the nice ones," Lucy said as she waved.

Cana laughed. "See you tomorrow."

"Later!" Lucy stepped up onto the sideway and started her walk home. She only lived a mile and a half from the magazine's headquarters, so she generally walked to and from work, especially when it was such a nice day. As she weaved through the other people on the sidewalk, she thought about the spread she was putting together for the magazine. Juvia had come in late and been busy with meetings all day, so she'd been unable to talk to her about the pictures she needed. Cana had also been busy with her own article, even working through lunch, so Lucy had been unable to bounce ideas off of her.

As she contemplated the work that still needed to be done, she passed by the fish shop in the middle of the block and turned towards the alley next to it. As usual, the owner hollered at her to be careful walking through the dark space.

She followed the same steps every day: Walk on the right side of the alley to avoid the smelly dumpster behind the fish stop. Skirt the puddle under the broken air conditioner that ran too high. Hop over the crack that was approximately knee height- which she'd learned the hard way. Avoid looking down the left alley as she passed the dirty movie rental place. Hold her breath at the end as she passed over the sewer grate.

As she made it into the sunlight again, she sighed and her shoulders slumped a little. Taking the sketchy back alley used to be the most exciting part of her day. Now, she had the walk down to a science and it was _boring_. Just like the rest of her life had become.

Lucy loved her job; it was a dream come true being able to write for a fashion magazine, but it had been so long since anything exciting had happened in Magnolia. She worked the same shift five days a week, with occasional overtime if they were in a pinch. After work she either read or wrote at home, made herself some supper and went to bed at a reasonable time. Friday nights, her friends would drag her out to the bar to drink and she'd try to relax between the same random men hitting on her. Saturday she'd sleep in, have breakfast, read for a few hours and then clean up the apartment. Sunday she'd clean up any work she had to have ready for Monday, then do her grocery shopping and laundry.

It was all so _boring_.

Lucy wondered when her life had become so dull. In college, despite being an honor roll student, she had been so much more wild. She'd thrown parties, initiated drinking contests, gone skinny dipping, been a pro beer pong player, and had so much fun every day. When had she become this reasonable, sensible, quiet, straight laced _adult_? She hadn't realized before how much she had changed. They still had fun on Fridays, once the men finished hitting on her, but it was planned fun and it just wasn't the same.

She thought about Cana's offer to go drink. Lucy always said no when she asked to go out on a weekday, which she had very good reasons for, but maybe she should try suggesting they go somewhere else. Juvia and Levy had shown interest more than once in doing something with Lucy outside of work, but they never made suggestions except for going to the bar. She knew they both did things with their non-work friends, but perhaps they just didn't know what she would be interested in doing, so they didn't know what kind of plans to make with her. Maybe _she_ needed to be the one to plan something and invite them for a change. Levy would probably be more than happy to go to the bookstore or the library, and she knew Juvia enjoyed going to the park to take pictures, so maybe she could suggest a picnic.

Lucy paused, causing someone behind her to curse as they barely avoided running into her. _Really Lucy, that's what you got? A bookstore or a picnic? _Lucy groaned out loud as she continued on her way home.

After a quick stop at the bakery on the corner, Lucy entered her apartment, the piece of cheesecake she'd purchased held firmly in her hand. After taking off her shoes and storing her purse, she took her work folder and treat into the kitchen.

Lucy paused next to the window and pet Plue as he rolled over on his perch, blinking sleep from his eyes. He purred as she rubbed his back, her practiced fingers finding just the right spots.

"Hey, Plue," Lucy cooed, running her hands over his white fur. "How was your day?" He purred in response as she rubbed the spot just above his eyes that he liked so much. "Sleeping and eating again, huh? Sounds to me like a perfect day."

She moved away to put her cheesecake in the fridge and walked towards her room. After changing into a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top, she went to her desk, grabbing a blanket for her legs on the way. Plue followed, jumping into her lap once she was situated in her chair.

"Alright little guy, you ready? I need some input on this project." Plue meowed in response before rubbing his nose on her hand. "Then here we go." Lucy opened up her work documents and then leaned back as she started to read out loud.

* * *

An hour later, Lucy's hair was sticking up at odd angles from running her hands through it so much, her ponytail having been flung away at some point. She was sprawled out, all her limbs hanging as she stared at the ceiling in defeat.

Plue had abandoned her about ten minutes into the reading, when she'd started moving around too much for him to be comfortable. The container from her cheesecake sat on the floor nearby, licked clean. Lucy grumbled again as she reread the last line of her article for the umpteenth time. Seconds after, she tossed her hands up, groaned loudly into the silence and threw herself out of her chair. Plue continued to sleep, used to her sudden outbursts.

"I hate this assignment," she told Plue as she passed him, heading for the kitchen. "I don't even _do_ anything special with my hair. Why did Mira have to assign _me_ this part of the magazine this month? She knows I do so much better with clothes or accessories."

Lucy pulled out the fixings for a salad, feeling bad about having already eaten her cheesecake. "Cana gets the same things all the time- food and booze. Why did she have to switch things up on me?"

After she ripped up the lettuce, she took it to the sink to rinse and spin it. "It takes me so freaking long to grow the stuff out, I can't really do anything special with it. Don't get me wrong, I've been blessed with really manageable hair, but I just don't care to do anything with it like other people do."

She pulled out the chopped carrots and a couple little tomatoes before digging around in the cupboard. "Maybe I can go back and ask Mira to let me switch. I don't know who got to do the article about dressing for Thanksgiving, but I could do that one no problem. I even did research in anticipation for Thanksgiving appropriate attire! I wasted a whole weekend shopping and didn't even get anything…"

Lucy threw her lettuce into a bowl, added the stuff she'd pulled out and stared at it thoughtfully. "Something's missing… Oh! Cheese!" She grabbed a new bag out of the fridge and set it on the counter to open it. "I wonder if I can just go check out a few of the salons in the mall to get an- oops." Lucy jerked back as the top of the shredded cheese bag ripped, tossing pieces all over the counter and onto the floor. "Damn it," she muttered, "I should clean that up before Plue gets a whiff. I don't want a repeat of last time."

Lucy quickly pushed the cheese on the counter into a pile before she went to the entryway to grab the broom. She heard a meow and quickly shut the door as some of her shoes tried to fall out of the closet. "Plue, don't you even _think_ about it." As she rounded the corner back into the kitchen, Lucy froze, her fist tightening around her room. "Who are you?"

A man stood in her kitchen, his back to her, while Plue lazily rubbing himself around the man's ankles. That surprised her first. Plue was usually very wary of new people in the apartment. The man appeared to be wearing some sort of long black robe and he had a head of shocking pink hair. When he turned, Lucy lost all sensation in her body as shock took hold of her.

Rising up from the wild pink tangle on his head were two large black horns that curled back over his head, ending in deadly looking points. She couldn't see his skin; instead, he appeared to be completely covered in small red scales. She could see his hands ended in black points, but she wasn't sure if they were nails or the whole end of the fingers. She saw his feet were uncovered and his toes ended in the same black points. His chest was bare, and she could see a noticeable scar halfway up his right side.

His eyes held hers when she finally looked at his face, after noticing the extended fangs in his grinning mouth. They were dark, completely black with no discernable iris or pupil. They seemed to draw her in, beckon her to come closer, but she couldn't seem to move. He looked away eventually, breaking the spell and her emotions finally caught up with her.

"Alright, I'll ask again, who are you?" she demanded, the fear barely suppressed in her voice. "What are you doing in my house?"

The painted man- _it had to be paint, was there some sort of convention in town she wasn't aware of?_\- opened his mouth and spoke, but she didn't understand the strange garbled language he used. "Alright, I don't know what you're saying, but you need to get out. Now, before I call the police." He spoke again, the same sounds coming out.

He scoffed, then held his hand to his throat. After a few moments, he spoke again, and the words weren't as strange sounding, but they were still harsh. Was it German? Another few moments of silence passed and he spoke again. She could tell it was Spanish this time, but she didn't know what the words meant. "I speak English, not whatever else you're trying to use. Can you just get out, please?" Lucy squeezed the broom in her hand again as she realized her phone was still on her desk. She needed to get this crazy man out of her house before he realized she only a broom to defend herself with.

The man seemed to still be trying to find the right language, so while he was distracted, Lucy slowly moved forward. When she was close enough, she pulled her leg back and threw all her weight into a kick to his head.

"Is this it? Hey, I think I- OOF!" The man flew across her apartment, landing hard against the living room wall before he slumped to the floor. "Ow, what the hell, that hurt! What'd you do that for?!"

Lucy wasted no time getting to her desk to get her phone. "You are trespassing. This is _my_ apartment and you need to get out. Go back to whatever freak show you wandered away from."

"I didn't wander away from anything. I was summoned here," he corrected her, rubbing his head where it had hit the wall.

"What do you mean you were summoned?"

"I mean, the summoning symbol that is used to call me was drawn by someone and I was pulled here by the magic. And," he looked around, "since I don't see anyone else here, I assume it was you."

Lucy stared, her phone held limply in her hands as the man bowed towards her, one arm held against his stomach and the other held away from his body. One of his legs crossed the other as he leaned over, his foot expertly avoiding the white cat who had moved to rub against him again. "Natsu Dragneel, at your service."

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Edited 6/11/20


	2. Chapter 2

**You are the best guys.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.**

* * *

Lucy stared at the man in front of her. "Uh… hi?" The man, Natsu, stood again and stepped towards her, causing her to stumble back. "No no, you stay there. I don't know what _summons_ you're talking about, but it wasn't me. So you can leave now. Door's through there," she gestured towards the kitchen, "to the right. Goodbye."

He stared down at her with a frown. "I can't leave. Not until I've made and fulfilled the contract."

"We don't have a contract," she said, suddenly feeling very exposed in her sleep clothes. Her hair was a tangled mess around her head and she wished she knew where her ponytail had gone. "So you can leave right now."

Natsu sighed. "Listen, I get it. You were expecting someone scarier, right?"

There was a long moment of silence. "Uh… what?"

"Is this one of those 'can you kick my ex-boyfriend's ass' kind of things? Because honestly, I'm great with those. This is only one of my forms, I can be a whole lot scarier. It's just that my kind generally don't try to terrify the one who summons us. That's kind of a dick move."

"Your kind?"

"Yeah, demons?"

Lucy's eyes widened, but after a moment, she burst into laughter. The loud, oxygen depriving, gut hurting, tear inducing kind of laughter. She bent over, unable to contain her mirth, eventually falling to the floor. She wrapped her arms around herself as she did her best to keep her eyes on the man as he watched her.

When she caught her breath some time later, she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Oh man, you had me going for a minute there. A demon? That explains the costume," she chuckled, her face finally dry. "I needed the laugh, thanks." As she stood, she grabbed her phone again from where she'd dropped it next to her. "Now it's time to leave, 'Mr. Demon,'" she said, making air quotes. "I wasn't lying about calling the cops. Or I could kick your ass on my own, if you prefer."

Natsu held up his hands towards her. "That won't be necessary. I'm here to help you, not hurt you."

"The only help I need is getting you out of my home."

"If you like, that can be part of your half of the contract."

"I keep telling you-"

"Alright, I'm growing bored with this," he said cutting her off. He reached down to grab Plue, who was still rubbing against his legs, and set him on the couch. When he turned back, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he let it out, he began to change. His skin cleared up, becoming tan and smooth. The horns on his head and the black of his nails faded and then disappeared. The cape disappeared, along with his pants, to be replaced with dark jeans. A white button down and black vest appeared on his torso, along with a scaly looking white scarf. His feet were still bare and he ran his hands through his hair to tame the mess some. He was also shorter; she hadn't noticed how much he towered over her before. When he opened his eyes, they were still endless black pools, but they didn't draw her in the same as they had before. "Satisfied?"

Lucy's heart beat harder as she stared at the man in front of her. Watching him had been disconcerting, but for a moment, she was bothered more by her physical reaction to him. She had been around enough guys to understand when she was attracted to someone, but she forced herself to ignore the heat that was currently blazing its way through her bloodstream.

This wasn't just some hot guy hanging out in her apartment. This was some sort of magic _something_\- she wasn't sure if she believed the demon bit yet- that claimed he needed to finalize a contract she wasn't convinced she was a part of.

"Alright, I believe you're not normal." _Damn it, why did the sleeves have to be rolled up?_ she wondered as her mouth practically watered. "What is this about a contract? How do people usually summon you?"

"They draw the summoning symbol."

"What does that look like? How do people figure out how to do that?"

He shrugged. "There are a few ways. Many of the magical beings that reside on this plane know how, and there are plenty of lost texts floating around that could fall into the hands of humans. As for what it looks like, you made it, so you should know."

"Okay, but _I didn't, though_."

Natsu sighed, looking around. Once he felt the tug, he walked into the kitchen. He pointed at the pile next to the bowl of food. "It's in here."

"Where?" she asked, following him. "_What?!_ I summoned you with a pile of _cheese?!_" She began to pace, her hands buried in her hair. Natsu thought about saying something, but chose to watch her talk to herself instead.

This was certain the most amusing summons he'd ever answered. He'd never been brought to the human plane by accident before. The woman before him was beautiful, maybe even more so with the way her cheeks were flushed and her brown eyes glowed. She was average height for a woman, from what he could remember, but her assets were definitely not average. He wondered if that was usual for this time period.

Trying not to be a creep, he returned his eyes to her face, watching as she continued to pretend he wasn't here. "… _up Lucy._ We have work to do. If we fall asleep at our desk again, we'll have a sore neck and then work will be terrible tomorrow. _Wake up_."

"You probably won't believe me, but you're not sleeping."

She stopped and studied him for a while. The way her eyes scrutinized him unnerved him in a way humans typically didn't. She appeared to come to some conclusion as she straightened and relaxed her shoulders. "Alright," she said, turning away. Before she left the room, she paused. "Are you telling me that to summon you, all someone has to do is make a pile of shredded cheese?"

He glanced at the pile on the counter, deciding that must be what she was referring to. Mentally, he made a note that he needed to update his knowledge of the human world. "No, but it seems you somehow managed to create my symbol at the bottom of the pile of… that." As she walked towards him, he carefully cleared the pile off of the symbol at the bottom. The pieces that created his fire emblem were glowing slightly and were stuck to the countertop beneath them. She poked at the pile, surprising him when he realized she was so close.

"Is that going to stay there forever now?"

"The symbol remains active for 24 hours, or until the terms of the contract are agreed upon."

"So if we don't figure out a contract, you'll go away tomorrow."

"Yes."

"Huh." She grabbed the bowl next to the symbol, opened a drawer for a silver instrument, and then took both into the other room. He stared after her for a moment before he finally followed. She was sitting at a small table covered in papers, a blanket over her lap, eating her food while reading the papers.

He moved closer, but thought better of it after remembering how she kicked him earlier. He paused halfway across the room before he stopped to watch her. "I didn't get your name," he said when she continued to ignore him.

"Pretty sure you know it," she said absently.

He cocked his head to the side. "The summoning doesn't give me any information about the summoner or the purpose. That's your job once I arrive."

She flipped a paper. "Since you're a creation from my head, it would be reasonable to assume that you know my name."

Natsu took a moment to process her words before he chuckled. "So wait- now I'm a figment of your imagination?"

"I'm not sure how my desire to have a little more excitement in my life managed to create this little scenario, but I can accept it."

"You sound awfully calm about being crazy."

She raised a finger as she looked at him. "Not crazy, just bored." Her eyes turned back to her work. "It'll make a fun story, if I decide to write it out some day."

Natsu ran his fingers through his hair, at a loss for what to do. The cat came to wrap around his legs again, his purr momentarily the loudest noise in the room. "Alright… _you_. I don't know what to do to convince you without scaring you, and I would really rather not have to do that." She didn't even spare him a glance as she continued to eat. "If I'm a figment of your imagination, how could you touch me?"

She glanced at him, then at the wall where he'd landed. "I don't see a mark from you landing. Maybe I didn't actually touch you."

He took a step, causing her to spin in her chair. "I'd rather you kept your distance. Figment of my imagination or not, I'm still uncomfortable with you being here."

Natsu pointed at his feet. "Your cat is touching me, and I picked him up earlier."

"See, mentioning Plue doesn't actually help your case. He's usually wary of new people and he's taken an instant liking to you. Whether he's actually touching you or not, that isn't a good argument." She put her feet up on her desk, taking another bite of her salad. "If you're going to keep arguing, you might as well do it while I eat. What else you got?"

"The fact that I have no information about you makes this rather difficult."

"Or you're just claiming to not have the information."

He crossed his arms, feeling annoyance started to surface. "If you gave me a minute and let me touch your head, I could erase those doubts."

"Oh really? How's that?"

"Because then I could read you."

Her eyebrows came together as she frowned. "Read me?"

He nodded. "Like a book."

"How would that help you?"

"By familiarizing myself with your thoughts and memories, I would be able to figure out what I can do to get you to believe me. Plus, my magic reads your past events as an objective outsider. Which means I would know what happened clearly, instead of seeing them through the veil of memory and emotion. Are there any memories you have that aren't quite clear that you'd like to be able to remember better? Conversations with loved ones, arguments with a rival, that sort of thing? I could help you remember them clearly. That seems like a fairly good way to convince you."

She contemplated him carefully. "Is this part of the contract? Will I owe you later?"

He shook his head. "We would be even, since I would also be using the contact as a way to update my understanding of how your world works. It's been a long time since I've been here, and my job will be much easier once I am up to date."

Lucy tossed the last tomato into her mouth as she contemplated the man's offer. Now that she'd calmed down some, she had realized that the story this man, or demon rather, was selling was much too elaborate for her brain to have just made it up to entertain herself. Not that she'd ever admit out loud, but she had more than once envisioned having conversations like this with the characters in the story she was writing. It helped when she'd get stuck, uncertain how she wanted them to react to some scenarios. This was much different, though, since she wasn't running both sides of the conversation.

She didn't _honestly_ think he was a figment of her imagination, but the offer he was making held her tongue. If she let him believe for a time that she was still on the fence, she could have fun with this memory magic he claimed to have. If he stuck around a while, maybe she could use him to help settle some arguments she'd had with Cana about work over the last few years. Especially the incident with the Email-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

Honestly, the rest of it didn't appeal to her much. The past was the past, there was nothing you could do about it, so reliving it was pointless. Maybe he could help refresh some of the memories of her mother, but she wasn't sure if she wanted that. She was okay now, and while she missed her mother, it had only been a few short years since she'd finally been able to think about her without feeling like there was an anvil on her chest.

"Let's say you convince me," she said as she set down her bowl. "Explain this contract to me."

"It's the same as any contract. We discuss terms and negotiate until we agree on them. It used to be a wish based system, but they changed it when the program lost too many volunteers."

"Volunteers? Demons need to volunteer for this kind of thing?"

He exhaled, waving one hand as he rolled his eyes. "There was a thing a while back that changed how everything worked. The tale isn't worth retelling.

"On my plane, there's a system in place so you can basically upgrade to a different level of hell. If you fulfill enough contracts with acceptable ratings, then you can move up. It used to be that demons would answer the summons and fulfill wishes, but eventually humans started figuring out how to cut out the loopholes enough that demons quit having fun with them and they stopped doing it."

"Why is there a system in place to make you available to be summoned at all?"

"Some deal between our realm and another one. The head honcho has a quota to fill, so once demons basically lost the ability to play with the humans who summoned them and quit volunteering, he changed the conditions.

"Now, we get summoned and make contracts. I have to use my magic to fulfill your terms of the contract, and you have to fulfill my terms. The catch is I can't use my magic to help you fulfill my terms, even if we tried to make it a requirement. There's a plethora of rules and regulations that restrict it, and to keep my requests from being too extreme or harmful."

"What do you mean too extreme?"

He seemed to consider his words before he answered her. "The original rules were one wish for one soul. Souls are powerful in our realm, but they're rarely offered anymore, so some demons have tried to use loopholes to get their hands on them after the contract is filled. Now, there are a lot of rules about the state the human has to be left in at the end of the contract, and about repeated contact without prior consent. There are also a lot of rules limiting the amount of negotiation that can happen to add the soul to the agreement, so humans don't feel forced to give them up. And while I'm not obligated to protect you, I'm not allowed to harm you or request permission to perform harmful acts.

"Not that I would," he reassured her as she paled. "Being a half-breed, the violent tendencies aren't as strong in me as they are in other demons. To be honest, most of what I want is a break from the realms, and I'm willing to do just about anything to make that happen."

There was a lot there to unpack, but she let herself focus on the least scary portion of what he'd said. "Half-breed?"

He smirked. "If I'm a figment of your imagination, you should know what I mean." The light in his eyes made her think he suspected she already knew he was real.

Lucy didn't comment. Instead, she carefully digested the information he'd given her. He seemed nice enough, for a half-demon. Maybe she could deal with spending some time with him, if his terms weren't unreasonable. He'd already told her that if they didn't agree by the 24 hour mark, he'd go back home and everything would go back to normal. Maybe letting him into her head wasn't the greatest idea, but what could he do with that information- if he was real- when he went back? She could always make it a term of the contract that he couldn't tell anyone else on his plane, or hers, about her inner thoughts.

She'd wanted a little excitement, right?

"Alright," she said, gesturing at her head. "Do your thing."

* * *

Edited 6/11/20


	3. Chapter 3

**What better way to spend a snow day than to write with a cup of tea while watching the baby terrorize the cats? Snow days will always be my favorite...**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy didn't know what she had expected, but this wasn't it. Natsu was standing in front of her, arms outstretched with his fingers pressed gently against the sides of her head. His fingers were warm, much warmer than a regular person's, and the warmth seeped into her like a balm. After a while, she closed her eyes and just enjoyed how relaxed she felt.

It was a few minutes later that she looked up at him. Lucy was surprised by how comfortable she felt now, considering he was still virtually a stranger. She studied his face as he concentrated. His brows were pulled together slightly, a darker pink than the hair on his head. His hair was wild, still messy and spiky even though he'd tried to fix it earlier. It looked soft, just like his skin. She could faintly hear him breathing, drawing her attention down to his chest. The scarf he wore was strange. The texture looked similar to the scales he'd been covered in earlier, just larger.

Lucy checked his face again, seeing that he was still completely focused on his task, before she lifted her arm slowly and carefully towards it. She felt compelled to touch it, to see if it was as smooth as it looked. Her hand was only an inch away when his eyes popped open, causing her to yank her hand back.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"-wanted to know what it feels like, I know." He gave her a wry smile. "I probably should have mentioned that I can hear your thoughts while I'm reading you, although I thought it was implied. You were getting rather loud at the end there." His smile widened as her face reddened. "That was why you felt so relaxed at the beginning. It's a side effect of the spell, to make the person being read more comfortable so that their thoughts don't overshadow everything."

Mentally scolding herself, Lucy scooted back a little in her chair. "Well, did you get what you needed?"

She missed the grin he gave her as she started studying her thumbnail. "I did, thank you. More than I probably needed. I'm glad you approve of the outfit. Dress seems to be important to you."

Lucy felt herself heat more at his words. He makes it sound like looks are the only thing I care about, she thought. "Well? Where's my proof?"

He gave her a knowing smile. "You don't need any. You already know I'm real, Lucy." Natsu chuckled when she squinted at him. "I would have preferred you introduce yourself on your own, but I'll take what I can get. What would you like me to tell you to help satisfy your curiosity?"

"I think you know."

"I do," he agreed with an even wider smile, "but I'd still like it if you told me."

"I want to know about the email."

"What would you like to know about the Email-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named?"

"Was it me or Cana?"

"Technically both." He crossed his arms as he leaned against the corner of her desk. "But it was Cana that Laxus heard."

"I knew it!" she hissed. Instinctively, she reached for her phone, but didn't pick it up. While she'd love to put the fight to rest between them, it wasn't like there was a way for her to explain how she suddenly knew the incident wasn't her fault.

"But how do you…" She trailed off not sure how to phrase her question.

"Usually, memories suffer from something similar to tunnel vision. When I see the memory, I'm able to take in more of what's going on around you. Humans don't always remember everything that they saw, which is how you are able to look at a clock and immediately forget what time it is, or look in the fridge and forget what options you have for food. When I review the memory, I am able to see more because I do not suffer from that tunnel vision." Lucy nodded slowly, still not sure she totally understood, but accepting the answer anyway.

"Well, since you know that I believe you, I suppose we should talk terms. Or rather, your terms since you know what I want."

"I actually don't, not yet," he corrected. "You hadn't thought about it prior to my reading, so I have no idea what you want."

Lucy realized she still didn't so she gestured at him as she folded her legs under her. "How about you tell me what you want first, so I can figure out if I'm willing to agree to your terms. There's no point in me getting my hopes up unless I know I can fill your end of the deal."

"I have a very short list," he said, raising his hand to count on his fingers. "One, I'd like you do one more summoning, to bring a friend of mine here. Two, I want a place to sleep. Whether it's the couch or floor doesn't matter to me so long as there's a roof over my head. It doesn't have to be here, but since I am not allowed to create currency for myself to use, I can't pay for a place to live. Three, I will need food. Last, but most important, I'd like you to allow me to stay in your realm until one day before the timeline runs out, which is one year. That's the longest a contract can be active."

Lucy's eyes widened as she stared at him. "You… want to live with me for a year?"

He shrugged. "Here or elsewhere, if you can acquire accommodations. I wasn't lying before. I'm looking for a break from my realm, and this one is much more interesting."

"Who is this friend?"

"Another demon named Happy." He held up his hands as she opened her mouth to argue. "He's a much smaller demon, no bigger than your cat. I can't leave him back in my world on his own. He'll get himself into trouble, or worse, if I'm not there to keep an eye on him and protect him."

Lucy leaned back as she rested her hands on the arms of her chair. She tapped her fingers along the wooden ends, filling the silence as the pair studied each other. "So I basically have to house and feed you for the next year? What are you going to do while you're here?"

"Fulfill your terms of the contract and explore your world."

"As in, travel?"

He shrugged. "Yes, among other things. There's a lot about this world that is new and strange to me, and I've always been curious about new things. I promise not to collect too many things," he added. "I won't be able to take anything with me when I go back and I'd hate to leave a mess for you when I do."

"What would you be collecting?" she asked.

"Just about everything, if I don't keep an eye on myself." She stared at him blankly, eventually reminding him he hadn't answered her previous question. "Right, sorry, I didn't tell you. I'm only half demon- my father was a dragon."

Lucy's mouth opened and closed a couple times as she stared at him blankly. "My first thought is to ask if that's possible, but, well-" she gestured at him, "-demon."

"Sorry if it's a little difficult to wrap your head around."

"It's not the weirdest thing you've told me today," she mused. "So, half dragon, hmm? Does that mean you breathe fire and can fly?"

"My wings do work," he confirmed, "but I can only breathe small spurts of fire."

"Can I see?" she asked, sitting forward curiously.

He looked uncertain for a while, but eventually he took a deep breath and exhaled in a small burst of fire. It wasn't more than a foot from his mouth and only lasted a couple seconds, but Lucy's eyes widened in shock.

"I didn't actually expect that to happen," she admitted.

He laughed quietly. "I don't lie, Lucy. I've been told I can be honest to a fault." With a shrug, he added, "Turns out honesty isn't always a good thing."

Lucy crossed her arms as she looked around her apartment, trying to collect her thoughts. She had summoned a demon, with cheese, to her home on a regular, boring Wednesday afternoon. A demon who wanted to hang out at her place for a year in exchange for helping her. A demon who wanted to explore her world, after, of course, she summoned another demon. A demon who claimed to not lie.

Could she do it? Allow a demon, a rather good looking one, to live with her while he explored her world? What would her neighbors, her friends, think about her suddenly shacking up with, to them, some random guy?

Most importantly, what could she possibly ask for that equated feeding and housing a demon, possibly two, for a whole year?

When she looked back at Natsu, she saw that he was watching her with intense, onyx eyes. He was slouching slightly as he leaned, trying to appear relaxed, but she could tell that his whole body was tense. It took her a moment, but she realized he was nervous… nervous that she would reject his request and have to go back to his realm.

Well, I guess I won't be bored for a while, she mused as she smiled up at him. "Alright."

"Alright?" he asked, obviously surprised.

"I'm willing to make a contract with you." Lucy laughed quietly as she saw his body slump more as he finally relaxed. She considered him as he let out a long breath. "I only have four conditions."

"Alright, shoot."

Without hesitating, she counted out her demands. "One, you help me keep enough food in my apartment for two people. Two, you promise to go along with the backstory I come up with for you, and never tell anyone about what you really are. Three, I'll help you bring your friend, but you have to make sure he doesn't get into trouble while he's here, and if he does, it can't be traced back to me."

He raised an eyebrow as she paused, contemplating her next words. "What's the fourth one?"

It was a leap, but Lucy was willing to make it. What was more boring than watching someone else running around having fun without you? "You take me with you when you travel."

Natsu blinked, unsure for a moment that he had heard her correctly, but her voice hadn't faltered and there was no hesitation in her eyes. She watched him as he watched her, thinking about the deal. He hadn't planned on having any more company than Happy, but what she was suggesting wasn't unreasonable, and frankly, not surprising. He had seen himself how bored she had become with her regular routine. "You want to travel with me?"

He absently noted that her cheeks pinkened when she responded. "That's not quite what I mean." Lucy stood up, running her hands through her hair absently as she paced the room in front of him. "I want to see different places, try new things, eat new foods. I want you to take me with when you travel so that I can explore, too. This might be my only opportunity to travel across the world and I want to take it."

Natsu stood as she stopped in front of him, her hair no longer sticking out, but pulled over one shoulder, where one of her hands fiddled when the ends as she waited for his answer. It was strange to watch her from being so sure to so nervous in an instant. After being surrounded by demons and other mythical, manipulative beings for so long, it was a refreshing change. He was looking forward to spending time with someone so interesting.

He held out his hand. "You've got yourself a deal." Before she reciprocated the gesture, he said, "Be aware. Once you grab my hand, the contract will be sealed and we will both be bound until it is fulfilled."

She didn't even take a moment to reconsider, just let her palm slide against his. As their hands locked together, they began to glow. Faint lines of script appeared around their joined hands and began to lazily wrap around and through their hands and fingers. "This will take a little time, since the length of our contract is so long. Oh." Natsu smacked himself in the forehead. "I can't believe I forgot."

"Forgot what?" she asked warily.

"Before the end, there will be a chance for you acquire a summoning tag for me. You'll have to decide before then if you would like one."

"What's a summoning tag?"

"It's a mark that will appear on your skin, similar to a tattoo, that you can use to summon me to you. They're only an option for long term contracts, since it is more likely that we will spend time apart. That way I am always available to fulfill my terms of the contract, even if we have parted ways for some reason. It's particularly useful for deals that involve revenge or protection, but can be useful in many scenarios. The spell will give me an identical mark on the same spot, which will let me know when and if you summon me."

"How will I know when I have to choose?"

"The runes surrounding our hands will change to blue for a short time," he said, as the reds and yellows of the spell continued to swirl between them. "If you do not wish to have a mark, you only have to wait for the light to change back. If you do want it, then you must point to where you want the mark and say the incantation while the light is still blue."

"Will the mark be visible?"

"Yes, and you will have it until the contract has been completed. It's not a one time use kind of thing."

"What does it look like?" That sounded rather useful, but a tattoo? She'd never gotten one before. Where would she even put it?

"It's similar to the fire symbol that was used to summon me."

"And what do I have to say?"

"Markeer mij*." She repeated the words a few times with him as he helped her pronounce them correctly.

Once she was sure she had it, Lucy nodded and looked down to watch the colors swirling around their hands. The lines of script were layering themselves upon one another, completely obscuring their skin from their wrists down. Before she could question her decision too much, the runes suddenly turned blue, and Lucy lifted her shirt to touch her left side.

"Markeer mij," she said, then hissed as she felt fire and pins stab where her finger had pointed. Natsu's free hand grabbed her other side to hold her steady.

"It's okay, it only hurts for a moment," he murmured as he scowled slightly. "Breathe through it."

Lucy sucked in a breath through her teeth as tears pricked her eyes. She'd barely let the breath out before the pain lessened and then stopped all together. "You could have warned me about that," she hissed as she gingerly poked at her side. To her surprise, it didn't hurt at all to touch it.

"Almost done," he said. "This next part might freak you out, but I promise you'll be okay."

Her eyes snapped to his. "Why-"

The runes wrapping around their hands interrupted her as they suddenly broke into two lines. They rose from the bundle around their hands and floated for a moment between before they shot in opposite directions, directly into their chests. As the strip of symbols disappeared into her shirt, Lucy felt warmth begin to fill her body as she watched the second strand moving into Natsu, just under his scarf. She noticed after a while that the light around their hands had started to dim, as though the strands of light that had gathered there were now unraveling into the pair. Eventually the lines disappeared, the lights completely gone, and their hands were able to release each other.

She shook her hand, which felt slightly numb, as the heat in her body slowly lessened. "So, is that it?"

He smiled wide, his face lighting up more than it had since he'd shown up. "Yep, the contract is set! Thanks a bunch, Lucy, this is going to be awesome!" Natsu pumped his fists in front of himself. "Oh man, I can't wait to try out some of the human world food! What we got back home is all garbage compared to some of the stuff I saw in your head. This is going to be awesome, haha!" He took a couple steps back, and put his hands behind his head. "By the way, great call about the food. You worded it just right so that I can actually use my magic to get food! Most people don't think about that, and being hungry is awful. I can't wait to try some burgers, especially the ones with bacon! Man, my mouth is already watering."

Lucy's mouth slowly fell open in shock as she watched Natsu's personality do a 360 right in front of her. Was this some sort of side effect from the contract? Where had the mature, level headed man gone that had been before her only 30 seconds ago? And why was this moron yelling so loud?

* * *

* 'Markeer mij' means 'mark me' in Dutch. I'm part Dutch and I love the way the language looks, so I tend to use it a lot when I need one for something in my stories.

* * *

Edited 6/11/20


	4. Chapter 4

**I think I've been reading too much Soul Eater fanfic. It bled through a little bit into this. Whoops.**

**As always, happy reading.**

* * *

Lucy couldn't seem to find her tongue as Natsu's enthusiasm continued to loudly fill the room.

"Oh, duh, I almost forgot! I suppose I should show you how to summon Happy before we go get food." Natsu moved towards the desk. "He is going to be so pumped to find out this worked out. Are any of these sheets empty? Nevermind, found one!" He grabbed her pen and started to drawn on the paper. "Wait, do you know if that Italian place as burgers? I'd love to get some pasta _and_ a burger. I bet they'd be _amazing_ together. Oh, and if they-"

"What," Lucy yelled, cutting him off, "in the _hell _is happening?"

He froze. "What do you mean?"

She waved her arm at him. "Why are you acting so different?"

"I'm not acting _that_ different," he mumbled as he avoided her gaze.

"You went from calm, cool, collected to spaz in about half a second. It's _very_ different," she argued. "Is this some side effect of the spell?"

"Uh, no…" He refused to meet her eyes, instead choosing to stare down at his feet. He almost looked embarrassed, with the way he ducked his chin and his cheeks pinkened. "I just… have a tendency to scare off the people who summon me if I don't keep my excitement under control. Erza suggested I try to stay calm and mature so that I would have a better chance of actually getting a contract." He beamed as he held his hands out to her. "And it worked!"

"I don't know who Erza is, but I'm guessing she probably meant to stay calm and mature the _whole_ time, not just until the contract was set." Lucy rubbed her chest above her collarbone. The spot where the runes had entered was still warm. With a resigned sigh, she rolled closer to the desk. "Alright, I guess we should get started, huh?"

Natsu seemed to have forgotten about the paper and pen in his hands. "Get started on what? I was actually hoping to get a chance to do some of my own research before we go visit anywhere."

"Not that part," she said, waving her hand. She pointed at the materials in his hands. "That part, summoning your friend. I know we didn't make up a timeline, but I already agreed, so I might as well get it over with."

"Oh, right, Happy!" Natsu leaned over the desk to finish the picture. "Since I can't summon demons to this plane, I drew it exactly the way it has to be done. All you have to do is redraw it."

Lucy redrew the summoning circle, something that looked like a creature with pointed ears and a tail, quickly, before she could change her mind. She finished it and began to clean up the other papers, deciding she wouldn't be getting any more work done that night. After a few moments of silence, there was a shout of Natsu's name and she turned in time to see a small blue creature slam into Natsu's arms. Except for the wings and the color, Natsu's friend looked just like a small cat.

"Hey little buddy, how's it going!"

"Just fine," Happy said looking around. "Since you called me here, does that mean you finally got a contract?"

"It sure does," Natus said with a grin. He pointed over Happy's shoulder, causing him to pull away and float next to Natsu. "Happy, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is my best friend Happy!"

"He's a cat," was all Lucy could think to say.

"I'm not a cat!" The blue creature crossed his arms as he lifted his nose. "I'm an _Exceed_."

"I don't know what that is, but you look just like a cat." Lucy looked around and noted that not only was Plue back by Natsu's feet, but he was standing up on his hind legs to try and sniff at the flying blue creature. "Minus the wings and blue fur, anyway."

Plue trilled as he circled Natsu's feet before leaning on him again. Happy lowered himself until he was floating just about the white cat, who hopped onto two legs to rub himself against the small demon. Happy, in response, landed on his feet, wings gone and began to sniff at the white cat who rubbed against him.

Lucy glanced at Natsu, who's eyebrows had disappeared somewhere near his hairline. "Well that's new," he murmured.

When she was sure the two wouldn't start fighting, she spoke up. "Maybe we could let them get acquainted while we go get you something to eat."

"Sounds great to me," Natsu said, grabbing her hand. "Let's go!"

"Woah, wait wait wait!" Lucy pulled her hand from his grasp. "I need to change."

"Why- oh, nevermind." He gave her a smile and shooed her away. "Just be quick, I'm starving!"

_Dress seems to be important to you_. His earlier words banged around in her head as she went to her room to change. She pulled on her favorite red plaid skirt and a white top. Her hair was still a mess from earlier, so she quickly brushed it out and pulled it into a messy bun. As she finished, she glanced out the window, noting that it had grown dark, so she grabbed her short leather jacket after pulling on a pair of black boots. She caught the scowl in her reflection as she tugged the jacket on, and tried to fix her expression before she left her room.

As she re-entered the living room, she noticed that Plue and Happy were missing and Natsu was sitting cross legged on the floor, fiddling with his scarf as he studied the room around him. "Where did they go?" she asked when he finally noticed her and stood.

"Exploring the kitchen. Happy found some canned tuna and wanted to try it, I hope that's okay."

"I suppose so," Lucy said as she made her way towards the kitchen. Plue was sitting on his perch near the window watching Happy, who was digging in a drawer. She watched him pull out a butter knife and raised it towards Plue, who meowed back. Happy grumbled as he put it back and continued to search the drawer. "You said it was in this drawer, but I don't know which one it is…"

"Are you- are you _talking_ to Plue?" Lucy asked as she watched the pair.

Happy looked up at her. "Of course, don't you?"

"Well, I mean," she felt her cheeks heat. "I _do_ but it's not like we have conversations or anything. We don't understand each other."

Plue trilled at Happy who stopped again to respond. An answering meow made Happy's smile grow wide. "Oh _reeeeeeaaally_."

"Really what?" Lucy asked. Happy merely smiled wider at her. "_Really what, cat? Answer me!_"

"Nothing," Happy said as he raised his paws in front of himself. "I just think Plue and I are going to get along really well."

"That's good to hear, little buddy," Natsu said, surprising Lucy with how close he was. He grabbed her hand and headed for the door. "Let's go, Lucy. They're getting along great, see? So let's go eat!"

Lucy barely managed to grab her purse from it's spot near the door as he continued to pull her out the door. "Plue, if you can understand me, don't you _dare_ tell that flying hairball anything private!" There was no response as Natsu shut the door and continued to drag her behind him.

"Natsu, _stop pulling me_," she hissed as she yanked him to a stop. She noted how nice it felt to have his hand wrapped around hers, to feel the heat from his palm travel up her arm. The night had cooled down considerably with the setting of the sun, as it usually did this time of year. She shivered a bit despite her jacket and Natsu's hand. It had been a warmer October than usual, so she hadn't had a chance to get reaquainted with the cooler evening temperatures yet.

Natsu noticed the movement and looked at her with a frown. "Are you cold?"

"Only a little, it's not a big-"

"Nonsense," he said, moving closer to her. "Here, let me help." He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her flush against his side.

Immediately, Lucy's entire body became warm and she risked smelling him as she looked up to meet his eyes. He smelt like fire and smoke, spicy, and something dark, something that she didn't have a word for. "Better?" he asked with a wide grin.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah," she answered, turning forward. He pulled her along more slowly, clearly knowing where he was going. She tried to hide her blush from him as she looked forward with her head tilted down a little.

Natsu felt great as he looked around at the human world. It was _amazing_ how much their worlds differed, and it was even more incredible how different it was from his last visit, nearly a hundred years prior. He watched cars passing them by on the road, bright lights mixing with flickering reds at the end of the street. Lights blazed along both sides of the road, from inside shops to the tall lamps evenly spaced on the sidewalk, lighting up the streets. People laughed and walked around them, chatting with friends or spouses, some speaking into phones as they dodged the other bodies around them. Perhaps the strangest difference, and for Natsu the most unsettling, was the noise. The sheer amount of _people_, chatting and laughing on the streets. The buzz from the overhead lights. Music and other noises coming from inside the different shops and restaurants. The rumble of the cars as they passed by. The ringing of a cell phone from across the street. He looked up to see movement from pinpricks of discolored light in the night sky as a plane flew overhead.

Natsu tried not to scowl as his sensitive ears tried to block out some of the noise surrounding him. Instead he focused on the woman at his side, on the heat that built up between their bodies. The sound of her breathing as she occasionally blew stray hairs out of her face. The way the lights around them blinked against the shine of her blonde hair, some of which had fallen out of the tie near her neck.

"So, I think I've come up with a mostly believable story," she said.

Natsu drug his gaze from her hair to her eyes as she looked up at him. The brown of her eyes was darker now, nearly as dark as his own without the sun to lighten them. "Alright, whaddaya got?"

"You're an old friend that's come to visit. You travelled a lot because of your parents, who never seemed able to settle down anywhere, so we were never able to keep in touch. I've lived here my whole life, so it would have been easy for you to find me, if you'd had the inclination.

"Your parents passed recently, so you've been left their assets, but since you've done so much travelling, you don't really have much in the way of possessions, just funds. You've decided to do a little bit of travel with the goal of finding somewhere to settle down, but need a homebase. We were good friends while you were here, and you decided to take a shot at finding me to ask for my help, and I said yes."

"Won't your old friends know that I wasn't here? At least the ones that knew you when we supposedly met?"

"No," she said, looking away. "You were homeschooled. You lived across the hall from my apartment while you were here, which is how we became friends."

Natsu shrugged. "Alright, if you think that'll work."

Lucy smiled at him as they walked up to the door of Loke's Celestial Dining. Natsu grabbed the door before she could and Lucy led the way inside. As she approached the host's stand, she felt a little dread settle into her stomach as she saw the person standing behind it.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked as he felt her hand stiffen. She gave him a look, something pleading and warning at the same time, before turning back to the host. A man with red hair and tinted glasses stood behind it, dressed in an impeccable black suit. He finished making a note, then looked up with an easy smile. "Good evening, and welcome to- Lucy? What are you doing here! You don't usually come on Wednesdays!" The man moved around the stand, his smile much more genuine now, as he hugged Lucy.

"Hey, Loke," she said, returning the hug. She tried to hide her discomfort as they hugged, but he pulled back swiftly and studied her face.

He studied her with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, smiling at him. "Just tired."

Loke glanced over her shoulder, his frown deepening. He lowered his voice so only Lucy could hear him. "Does it have something to do with him?"

"No, no, it has nothing to do with Natsu."

"Natsu? Strange name."

She shrugged. "He's kind of a strange guy." Lucy pulled away from Loke's embrace to introduce them. "Loke, this is Natsu, an old friend of mine. Natsu, this is Loke, he's the owner of this restaurant and a good friend."

"It's nice to meet you, Natsu," Loke said, reaching forward.

"Nice to meet you as well," Natsu replied, clasping the man's hand. Lucy saw Loke's eyes narrow slightly as the two shook, and she could have sworn she saw him strain a little as their hands moved. Natsu appeared unaffected, except for the way his smile widened slightly.

Loke pulled back with his usual charming smile in place as he grabbed two menus. "Well, suppose I can't keep my favorite customer waiting. If you'll follow me?"

As they made their way towards Lucy's favorite booth, she glanced around the restaurant. "Why are you manning the front, Loke? I don't usually see you out on the floor, unless it's at the bar."

"New kid called in," he answered, setting their menus on the table before he stepped back, allowing them to sit. "The usual drink?" Loke looked at Lucy with a raised eyebrow.

"I think I'll actually take tea tonight," she said with a smile.

"You got it. How about you, Natsu?" Natsu had the menu open and he had already started reading it, ignoring the pair.

Lucy sighed. "Just bring him a water for now. I'm sure he'll pick something else later."

Loke studied Natsu for a moment as he watched the other man reading. "He's rather focused, huh?" Lucy didn't say anything, merely nodded with a small smile. "In case you were wondering, my offer still stands for Friday. You didn't answer me on Monday when you were in."

Lucy's smile widened, more genuine now as she rested her chin on her fist. "My answer is the same as always, Loke. You know Fridays are our bar nights."

He raised his hands. "You could always let them go without you for once. A nice meal, just the two of us, without the usual string of pestering losers might be a nice change of pace." He smiled at her as he grabbed her other hand and leaned down to kiss it. "It's an open invitation, you just tell me when and where," he added with a wink.

As he rose to his full height, he glanced at Natsu for a moment, before smiling at her again. "You were telling me you could use a change of pace. That's all I'm trying to offer." Then he was gone, weaving through the tables towards the bar. As Lucy looked back at Natsu, she laughed quietly to herself.

She had a feeling she already had all the 'change of pace' that she could handle sitting across from her.

* * *

Edited 6/11/20


	5. Chapter 5

**Shout out to Jeschura for pointing out that I was using the wrong form of runes in the last part. I am ashamed I didn't see it sooner, so thank you for letting me know!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Thanks for the meal, Lucy, it was amazing!" Natsu slowed down so he could throw an arm around her and pull her to his side. Lucy scowled slightly, but didn't pull away, even when she saw that he had no idea how annoyed she was. He had eaten _eight _entrees and _four_ desserts! He'd only stopped because Lucy had begged him to. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to face Loke again after what happened. Not only that, she had only negotiated for enough food in her apartment for him, so she'd had to pay for their meal herself, and it had _not_ been cheap.

"So, are you _always_ a bottomless pit, or was this just a special occasion?" she asked, still glaring down at the receipt.

"Sorry, but the food was _amazing_." Lucy glanced up at him. _He doesn't look very sorry,_ she thought.

She sighed as she tucked the receipt in her pocket. "Well, I can't afford to feed you like this every night, so you'd better get used to home cooked meals pretty quick. Which reminds me, if you're going to keep eating like this, you're going to have to start providing that food soon. Like, tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I don't always eat that much," he reassured her. "It's just been a while since I've had food. We can go longer between meals in my world, so I kind of showed up hungry here."

"I hope so," she said, "because frankly, that was a little disgusting. My stomach hurt just watching you. I don't know how many meals I could sit through watching you gorge like that." Lucy felt her stomach twist a little as she thought again about the way he had practically inhaled his food.

"Sorry," he repeated, this time actually sounding regretful. As they made it to her place, he stood back and let her lead the way inside.

"It's okay, so long as-" Lucy barely felt Natsu bump into her as she froze in the doorway between her kitchen and the entryway. Her eyes traveled the space in front of her, finally landing in the next room on Plue and the now mostly white form of the blue Exceed. Her cat was sitting in the middle of the living room while Happy was some feet away, trying to clean the white off his fur.

"Uh oh." Natsu's words brought Lucy's eyes back to the kitchen. The counters and floor were covered in so many substances that she didn't try to name any of them. Her fridge was open with most of its contents strewn across the floor. On top of that, almost every surface in the room was covered in a fine layer of white powder, probably flour. Happy and Natsu were both frozen, barely breathing as they waited for the woman to explode.

Lucy turned and put her purse away before taking off her shoes. She carefully walked across the room towards Happy, who continued to watch her with wary eyes. Lucy stopped as she stepped onto the carpet and held out her hand. Happy slowly held out the towel in his paws and she cleaned off her bare feet. After handing it back, she moved forward to pick up Plue, who curled against her as she turned around.

She looked down at Happy, then over at Natsu. He saw the fire spark in her eyes, but her tone was even as she spoke. "I expect this to be cleaned up by the time I wake up for work at 6. Your room is the first door in the hallway on the left. Good night." Then she turned and went down the hall.

Natsu waited until Happy was done cleaning himself off before he spoke. "You just _had_ to make her mad already, didn't you?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Happy argued. "I just wanted to try the canned fish, but Plue wouldn't tell me which tool I needed and then-"

"How about you tell me the story while we clean up?" Natsu interrupted as he finally stepped into the kitchen.

In her room, Lucy paced as Plue sat on the bed watching her. "I can't believe I agreed to this," she said again, combing her hands through her hair. "What was I _thinking_, Plue? 'Hello Mr. Demon,'" Lucy said, her voice high pitched and exaggerated. "'Wow, you just showed up out of nowhere, huh? And you want to fulfill my deepest, darkest wish? Sure, sign me up, sounds like a great idea!'"

Lucy angrily grabbed her towel and pajamas before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her to keep Plue out of the mess in the kitchen. She continued to mutter to herself as she went into the bathroom and got the tub ready. It wasn't until she was in the water that she finally looked down at the mark on her side. The mark on her body was made up of intricately scrawled lines of dark red, weaving together to create a rather beautiful depiction of a fire. However, it stretched from her hipbone to just below her breast. _Why was it so big?! How was she supposed to hide this?!_ Lucy barely suppressed her scream as she grabbed her soap to wash up, no longer interested in relaxing in the hot water.

"'I can grant any wish,'" Lucy growled in a mockery of Natsu' voice as she scrubbed her skin. "'I just want to live here, eat you out of house and home, oh, and put a brand on you the size of your face, is that cool?'"

Meanwhile, as he continued to clean up the mess in Lucy's kitchen, Natsu's mouth lifted in a small smile.

* * *

Lucy took a bite of her sandwich as she continued to make notes on her computer. She gagged slightly before pulling the top piece of bread away to see a rather large circle of tabasco sauce soaked into it. Sighing, she let the sandwich fall back into her desk as she pulled out the apple instead.

When she had woken up, she'd found her kitchen spotless and her home demon free. In the still mostly empty fridge, she'd found her lunchbox sitting in the middle of a shelf with a note on it from Natsu, saying they'd made her lunch and would have the kitchen restocked before she returned from work 'whenever that will be.' She'd found it rather sweet, so she'd left them a note in return before leaving for work.

While the gesture was appreciated, she was going to have to have a chat with the demon about overdoing it with the spicy food. Everything she'd tried to eat so far had been covered in tabasco or some other hot sauce, making them unpalatable. The worst part was that she had no idea where they'd even gotten the sauces to begin with, because she didn't own any.

After sniffing the apple to make sure it hadn't been tampered with, she bit into it, resigned to getting something out of the vending machine once it was gone. She was just about done with it when Cana came to her desk. "Oh my god, Lucy, you missed _so much_ last night."

"Did I?" Lucy asked, quirking her eyebrow.

Cana's face instantly fell. "No…" She groaned. "Only Juvia ended up coming with and she was depressed because the band with Gray in it had a sick member and didn't show up, so all she did was whine and drink." She leaned against the edge of Lucy's desk. "I was more stressed when I left than when I got there. How was _your_ night, Ms. Responsibility?"

Lucy ignored the jab as she briefly considered not mentioning Natsu, but quickly dismissed the idea. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep him a secret long, especially since he was already traipsing around town. "Well, actually, an old friend came into town to visit last night."

"Really? Who? Aren't we all here still?"

Lucy waved her hand a little. "You don't know him. He used to live here while we were still in elementary school, but he never joined the school. His parents travelled a lot so he was homeschooled."

"I think I remember that," Cana said, staring off with a frown. "You didn't hang out after school with us for a few months. The rest of us never even got to meet him either."

Lucy shrugged, then apologized before changing the subject. She didn't want Cana to think about it too hard.

She might remember that it had been a girl that she'd befriended back then.

* * *

By the time Lucy drug herself into her home, later than usual, she was more than ready for the day to be over. After finding out that she was temporarily living with a man, Cana had demanded that she get to meet her mysterious friend. It had taken all of Lucy's remaining lunch hour to convince the woman to wait until the next day when they'd be getting together at the bar anyway, so she could introduce him to everyone at the same time. When Cana had finally agreed, Lucy's stress had only been slightly alleviated. She needed time to prepare Natsu before he met her friends, and now she only had one day to do it. All she needed was a get together or two, and then they would be past the 'tell me about yourself', 'what did your parents used to do' and 'what kind of stuff did you and Lucy do' conversations. Then they could just get to know Natsu as he was, and she wouldn't have to worry so much.

Lucy put her stuff away and then frowned as she saw that Plue wasn't in his usual spot waiting to welcome her home. She noticed her fruit bowl and shelves were full as she passed through to her living room. Once she got there, she couldn't help but smile.

Natsu was laying on her couch, his feet hanging off the end while his arms cushioned his head on the other end. Both Happy and Plue were curled up on his chest and stomach, wrapped snugly around each other. Despite coming home late, she decided she could wait to make supper and begin preparing him for the following day. She quietly took her work folder to her desk and pulled out the papers.

She hadn't been working at her desk long when she was interrupted. Happy floated silently beside her for a minute, not saying anything, so she continued to work as she waited for him to speak.

Eventually, he broke the silence. "I'm sorry about last night, Lucy."

That surprised the woman, but then she squinted at him suspiciously. "Are you apologizing because Natsu told you to?"

"A little," he admitted, "but also because I shouldn't have messed up your house like that. I got a little carried away, and I shouldn't have. Even though we're demons, we don't have to give in to our destructive tendencies. It won't happen again, I promise."

She considered his bright eyes for a moment before responding. "Alright. As long as it doesn't happen again, I forgive you."

"Thank you, Lucy!" he says, the brightness in his eyes turning into tears. In the blink of an eye he was on her, his head squished against her chest. "Thank you! I was so worried you were going to send me back!"

Lucy blinked, her arms pausing on their way to hug the little demon. "Can I do that?"

Happy froze, but before he could say anything, Natsu's sleepy voice interrupted from the couch. "Way to go, Happy. She wouldn't have even considered it if you hadn't said anything."

Lucy turned her chair, her arms firmly around Happy. "Seriously? I thought he was stuck here, too, because of our deal. I can really send him back?"

"Geez, Lucy, you have a lot to learn about demons," he said as he stretched. "It's a good thing you didn't summon a full blood- they would've taken _full_ advantage of you." He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, carefully helping Plue to the floor. "Demons are all about loopholes when it comes to contracts, and ours is littered with them."

Lucy briefly remembered their agreement about Happy before it clicked. "Oh! I only agreed to bring him here, not that I'd let him stay!" She looked down to meet Happy's worried gaze. "Guess I know what to use against you now when you're being a pain in the butt." Natsu laughed when Happy just continued to look worried.

Lucy looked back and forth between them while his laughter slowly died. "So how come he can stay here without a contract and you can't?"

"For two reasons. One, he was part of _our_ contract, so my magic is holding him here. And two, he's an Exceed and his kind don't make contracts. They can go between the different layers of our world without any problem, so they have no reason to deal with humans. When they're summoned here, they stick around for as long as their magic can last and then go back home. Our contract allows him to draw from my magic instead of his own, so he can stay here as long as the contract is in effect, or you send him back."

"How would I do that?"

Happy's eyes widened. "Natsu, don't-!"

"By drawing his summoning circle again. It cancels out the first and he's sent right back."

Happy humphed as he pulled himself out of Lucy's arms. "Some best friend _you_ are. I'm going to get myself a fish, in case I need a last meal."

Lucy snorted. "Don't be so dramatic, cat."

"I'm not a cat!"

She ignored his outburst and turned back to Natsu. "Now that you're awake, I suppose I should make food. I also have to talk to you about tomorrow night."

"What's tomorrow night?"

Lucy fidgeted in her chair, a fact that Natsu found highly entertaining. "You'll more or less be meeting what I have of a family." At his confused look, she stood and made her way into the kitchen, ignoring Happy, who was sitting on the counter eating a whole fish raw. "My mother passed when I was young, and my father and I… don't talk anymore." She waved a bit as she opened the fridge. "You already know that, but I feel…" Standing straight, she ignored the chill surrounding her. "I suppose you know all about them, don't you? It's pointless for me to explain."

Natsu sighed. "I didn't read everything about you, Lucy. I picked up the more prominent memories that drew my attention, and any knowledge I could scrape up about your world. I didn't read all of your memories, though. I mostly dug around to get a feel for who you are as a person. It's possible to know too much about someone, and honestly, it's kind of rude to read a whole person." He smiled at her shocked expression, then moved her away from the fridge. As she continued to process what he'd said, he began to pull ingredients out of the fridge.

He had a pot of water boiling on the stove and was almost done cutting an onion before she finally spoke again. "So you didn't read everything?"

He shook his head and then shrugged as he poured the chopped onions into a frying pan. "I don't see the need. You get too much that way, and I'm here to learn about your world, not just you."

Lucy watched as he puttered around her kitchen, pulling hamburger out of the fridge. He put the meat into the frying pan and then added several spices before mixing it all together. "Where did you learn to cook?" she asked.

"The internet!" he said with a grin. "I'm not doing anything fancy for my first attempt, don't worry. Just macaroni and cheese with meat."

Lucy sat at the table, leaning down to pet Plue as he finally joined her to say hello. "I haven't had that in a while."

"I know," he said with a grin, causing her to roll her eyes. "Here," he added, pulling a bottle out of the fridge. "Drink this and tell me about these plans you have for me with your almost family."

Lucy smiled as he popped the top off her favorite beer and handed it to her. She leaned back and took a long draw from the bottle, allowing herself to relax a little. She could almost feel her girly preteen dreams being answered as she watched the attractive demon before her making her dinner.

_Almost_.

It was spoiled by the overriding image she had in her head of him consuming an entire table's worth of food. She blanched as she took another drink from the bottle, and then settled in to help him fill in his pretend backstory.

* * *

**I liked Mature Natsu in the opening chapters, so I'm going to be bringing him in on occasion. While I plan on allowing him some collateral damage here and there, and allowing his usual boyish charm to shine, he is also trying to follow Erza's advice and be a little more mature, so that will come through sometimes as well. To that end, he's learning how to cook!**

* * *

Edited 6/11/20


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry guys, but my posting schedule will more than likely never be consistent. All of my stories on here will always be a way for me to relax and unwind. I write in my spare time, which I don't get with any sort of consistency. Be that as it may, my goal is to get something out at least every other week. I apologize if that's not enough for some people, but it's what I've got.**

**Thanks for all the love guys, I always appreciate it! Happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy carefully loosened her grip on her glass as she let out a deep breath through her nose. Their usual group of five was up to seven people on this particular Friday, so they weren't at their usual booth, making Lucy feel even more exposed in her current situation. Her work friends, Juvia, Levy, and Cana took up the opposite side of the table, while Loke had taken the seat to Lucy's left. Natsu was sitting to her right, at the corner of the table, despite her friends desire for him to be more accessible to the whole group. Natsu had informed her when they'd entered that the smell of alcohol hurt his more sensitive nose. The smell permeated the whole bar, but he said he'd be okay for a few hours, as long as it wasn't directly under his nose. In an effort to help, she'd gotten him a seat on the end of the table. Laxus, who usually avoided their get togethers since he wasn't a fan of loud places, was making a rare appearance as he sat at the head of the table, mostly silent as always.

She listened to the laughter around her as she took another sip with a shaky hand. She was waiting- just waiting. Waiting for a discrepancy in Natsu's stories. Waiting for him to hesitate over the wrong question. Waiting for her plans to fall apart and everyone to figure out that Natsu wasn't what she claimed him to be. She hadn't been able to relax all day, even though Natsu had spent the whole time between work and their arrival at the bar trying to reassure her that he could handle meeting her friends.

She took a few more swallows as she glanced over at the demon. Natsu was laughing as he listened to Loke regale the group with a tale about a particularly difficult customer he'd had earlier in the week. One of his hands was resting lightly on the table next to her empty hand. Occasionally, he would rest his fingers against her wrist as he answered her friends' questions. The first time had surprised her, and when she'd tried to pull away the second time, he had firmly held her wrist still. Since then, she hadn't tried to pull away so she wouldn't cause her friends to be suspicious. After it had happened a few times, she'd finally noticed the relaxed feeling that accompanied the touch and realized he was reading her so he could answer her friends' questions.

On one hand, it didn't bother her- anymore- that he was touching her. While she wasn't used to being so casually physical with people, he was doing it for a good reason and wasn't being weird about it, so she didn't try to stop it. On the other hand, allowing him to touch her was causing her friends to give her strange looks. She inwardly sighed as she realized there were many problems his presence would cause that she hadn't considered.

Suddenly, her hand was pulled from her beer and she was being tugged to her feet. "Come on, let's get the next round!" Cana drug Lucy behind her as she made her way to the bar. After requesting a round of beers, she pulled Lucy down and they sat on two empty seats. "Alright Lucy, spill."

The bottom of Lucy's stomach dropped out and she felt the beer she'd already drunk making her nauseous. "What do you mean?" Her mouth dry, Lucy swallowed, desperately trying to create some moisture for her tongue.

"Oh come on, Lucy, it's obvious. You're not fooling anyone," Cana scolded her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lucy felt her whole body go cold. She should have known she couldn't fool her friends. Damn Cana for being so perceptive.

Cana smiled at her. "Liar."

"Alright, fine, I give up. You're right," Lucy admitted, cursing herself for caving so easily as she desperately tried to find a new lie, one that didn't leave her explaining why she'd made a deal with a demon.

"I knew it!" Cana smiled knowingly at her. "It's so obvious you and Natsu aren't just friends."

Lucy froze, her entire body numb as Cana's words replayed in her mind. Then replayed again. "What?"

"Oh come on, Lucy, you already admitted you lied. None of our friends have missed it, not even Laxus, and he usually ignores that kind of thing."

"What… Why do you think that?" Lucy asked. The bartender set their beers in front of the pair and Lucy pulled one closer to her to take a drink.

"Lady, it's obvious," Cana said as she emptied one of the glasses in only a few swallows. "You've spent most of the night making eyes at him, he keeps touching your arm whenever he talks about you, and you are obviously worried about us liking him." She split the drinks in half, helping to hand them to Lucy so they could carry them back. "He's gorgeous by the way, I heartily approve. I know you guys are still getting reacquainted, but once you are, I will be very disappointed if you don't jump on that and ride until you can't walk."

"_Cana!_" Lucy nearly dropped the drinks she held as her whole body heated up at her friend's words. "It's not like that at all!"

"Oh yeah? Then what is it like?" Cana paused, only a few tables away from their group.

"We're just friends," Lucy said, her voice firm, but she was desperately trying to dispel the heat in her cheeks and neck. She didn't need the questions that would inevitably be asked if she showed up at the table with a blush. "It's been a long time, and I'm still getting to know him again. There's no relationship or anything like that going on, okay?"

"You obviously have the hots for him, though, and he's _totally_ into you, too."

"What? No." Lucy shook her head. Cana obviously misunderstood the touches, but Lucy had no way of correcting her without spilling the truth. "Have you ever seen that man eat? I don't think I could afford to feed him for the rest of my life. Friendship is the only thing in our future, I promise you."

Cana only smiled and continued toward the table, where they handed out the drinks. Natsu smiled at her as she sat, putting her own drink on her left, away from him. Cana took her seat across from again as she took a long draw from her glass. "Did we miss anything?" she asked.

Juvia glared at Levy out of the corner of her eye as she answered. "Levy was breaking the rules of bar night."

"Only a little!" Levy argued. "Natsu was asking about our work! I was just telling him about the building and some of the stuff we write about. I didn't mention any of our current projects, so _technically_ I didn't break the rule."

Lucy looked at Natsu, surprised. "You haven't asked _me_ about my work, outside of just asking what I do."

He shrugged in response. "We've just been busy talking about other things, so I haven't had the chance." He raised his glass to his lips and she noticed it was almost empty.

She immediately felt guilty. "Cana, you forgot Natsu's drink."

Her friend merely shrugged, her own glass to her lips. "Wouldn't have if he'd asked for a _real_ drink."

Lucy glared at her before giving Natsu an apologetic look. "I'll go grab you another one. Be right back."

Loke leaned over as Lucy stood again. "So I've been meaning to ask you about your visit earlier this week." She grimaced to herself as she headed for the bar, hoping she didn't miss anything important.

As she waited for the bartender to grab Natsu's soda for her, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around, forcing herself to smile as saw who stood behind her. "Hello, Totomaru."

"Hello, Lucy. How have you been?" He gave her a smug smile, his hair pulled back in its usual ponytail, showing off his odd hair and facial markings.

Lucy internally groaned as she silently started her creep count. "I'm doing pretty good. It's been a… busy week," she said, glancing past him at her table. She looked away quickly when she caught Natsu's eye. "How about you? How was your week?"

"Really good," he said, leaning against the bar next to her. "There were some changes made to the company last week and they offered four promotions today." His smile widened. "I was given one, of course."

Lucy forced herself not to roll her eyes as she smiled at him. "Congratulations! That's really exciting." She gratefully took the drink the bartender gave her, waving away his apology about the wait.

As she grabbed a straw to stick in the drink, Totomaru stopped her retreat with a hand on her elbow. "Hey, since I'm celebrating tonight, how about I get you a drink?"

She wasn't dumb. If he bought her a drink, she would feel obligated to spend time with him and she was _super_ not interested. "I appreciate the offer, but it's Friday, and you know it's the night I come here with my friends." She shook out off his arm and made her way towards the table, Totomaru on her heels, much to her disappointment.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" he asked as they got closer to the table. She saw Loke and Juvia glance over and see the man by her side, but they said nothing.

"I'm actually busy," she said as they reached the table and set down Natsu's drink. "I have a friend in town that I'll be spending time with. Maybe another time."

"All day?" he asked, oblivious to the way the table was subtly glaring at him. "Certainly you could spare me an hour or two."

Natsu spoke up before she could respond. "I'm sorry, but she'll be busy most of the weekend." He ignored Lucy as she whipped around to give him a surprised look. "She has plans with me. I'm afraid I'll be monopolizing a lot of her free time in the foreseeable future."

The man blinked, surprised. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met."

The demon stuck out his hand. "Name's Natsu. I'm an old friend of Lucy's. A _good_ friend." He saw Cana grin at Lucy as she moved to sit back in her chair.

"Totomaru," the man said, shaking his hand quickly. "I apologize for interrupting. I've been trying to find an open evening with Lucy for a while now, but it seems she's a busy woman."

"Or she just doesn't want to go out with you," Natsu said. When Lucy choked on her beer, making Cana laugh, he looked at the others at the table, all of them either looking away or giving him incredulous stares.

Totomaru cleared his throat before responding. "I believe you said you were an old friend of hers, correct? What would make you think that she isn't interested?"

Natsu looked at Lucy, who was glaring at him as she cleared her throat with a napkin over her mouth. "Am I wrong?" he asked her. While the others were silent as they watched, Cana was desperately trying not to laugh, her hands held over her mouth.

Her eyes widened as she looked up at Totomaru, her expression turning to one of embarrassment. "I… well, I… I hadn't really…" She fidgeted with her napkin as she looked down. "I'm sorry."

Cocky look completely gone from his face, Totomaru turned away and muttered, "Excuse me," under his breath as he left them.

Levy grabbed a couple napkins to help Lucy clean up the beer she'd spilled. Cana seemed to be struggling to breath as she finally allowed her laughter out. Natsu met Loke's grin with a frown over Lucy's head. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Not wrong, just honest," he answered.

"I can't _believe_ you said that to him," Lucy hissed, her voice hoarse.

Natsu frowned. "Was I wrong? I could go bring him back and apologize if I was." He'd been certain he could sense her displeasure at the man's presence, but he'd never had a summoning tag before. Maybe he'd misread the emotion?

"You weren't wrong," she said, grabbing his arm when he moved to stand. "You were just rude about how you told him."

"Just honest," Loke repeated from her other side, taking a drink.

"I agree," Juvia added. "You're too nice, Lucy. You always make it sound like there's a possibility that you may say yes later."

Lucy's cheeks reddened as her friends ganged up on her. "I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

Cana slammed her empty glass onto the tabletop. "And that's why they come back every week. If you said no outright, they'd leave you alone."

Lucy glared at Natsu, confusing him, before standing again. "I'll be back in a minute." His confusion increased as she held his eye for a second before storming off.

Her friends were all smiling at him when he turned back from watching her walk away. "I am really confused."

Levy sighed. "Don't mind her. She may be upset, but you did a nice thing for her. She hates getting hit on all the time when we come out on Fridays. We've tried helping her out, but she always says she can handle it."

"Which she doesn't do a very good job of," Loke added. "Don't worry, she'll be okay."

There was a commotion at the end of the bar as a man hopped up onto the stage and moved to stand at the mic. "Good evening everyone!"

Laxus put his hands on the tabletop to push himself to his feet. "That's my cue."

"You'd better not be working," Juvia warned as he pushed in his chair.

Laxus shrugged as he pulled out his phone. "The Maker Magic band has a new guitarist they're debuting tonight. I gotta scope them out to see if I should put them in the next issue."

The name of the band made Juvia perk up. "They're here tonight?"

Cana laughed. "There she goes."

"I'll join you by the stage," Juvia said, standing. Levy sighed as the pair left.

Natsu turned to Loke. "I'm confused again."

He grinned. "Juvia's got it bad for the lead singer of the band. He's new to town, so we tried to make friends with him a few weeks ago. We've only hung out the one time, but she's convinced he's the love of her life."

"Huh." _Humans are weird,_ he thought as he looked around for Lucy again. He could feel her irritation through their link, but he couldn't see her.

"So," Levy said, drawing his attention back to the table. "What kind of intentions do you have with our friend?"

He blinked at her. "I don't think I understand. What kind of intentions do friends generally have with one another?"

"Is that all it is? Friends?" Cana asked, reaching for Lucy's beer. Levy smacked her hand, making the brunette pout.

Natsu looked to Loke again, his confusion clear. He was hoping for help again, but Loke was watching him with a serious expression as well. "I don't understand. You are a very confusing group of people."

"We wanna know if you're interested in Lucy," Levy said.

"Of course I'm interested in her," he said. "She's an interesting person, why wouldn't I be?"

"We mean romantically," Cana said.

Natsu blinked at them, their meaning finally sinking in. "_Oh_. No," he answered. "No, I don't have those kinds of intentions with Lucy." Over Cana's shoulder, he finally saw her coming back from the bar, another beer in her hand. "I won't be here very long," he continued. "We have an agreement, and once I've finished my travelling, I probably won't be coming back here for a very long time."

They all continued to study him as Lucy finally returned, replacing Cana's empty glass with the full one in her hand. No one spoke until she sat and lifted her glass again. "You guys are awfully quiet. Did I miss something?"

Cana grinned as she answered, watching Lucy carefully as she took a drink. "We were just asking Natsu how long he thought it was going to take him to fall in love with you."

Lucy choked on her beer again as Cana nearly fell out of her chair laughing.

* * *

**I really enjoyed writing the interaction with Totomaru. I have this idea that along with learning about how the world has changed, Natsu also needs to learn how to interact with people. He's a straightforward kind of person, that doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat things, so he comes off kind of harsh sometimes. That has the potential to cause some embarrassing moments for Lucy, so I plan to have more interactions like the one with Totomaru. **


	7. Chapter 7

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Natsu practically flung himself out the door as he took a deep breath of the crisp air. "I don't understand how you guys can stand to be in there for so long." He continued to walk a ways from the door, stopping near a bench that sat under one of the parking lot's lights.

"Our noses aren't as sensitive as yours are," Lucy answered, moving to sit next to where he stopped. Even with the door shut, she could still hear the band play as she watched Natsu start to pace. "Are you going to be okay?"

He waved off her concern. "Yeah, just not used to sitting still so much. And that _smell_." As if to help make his point, he loudly breathed in another lungful. "Even the air out here is tainted. While the air isn't exactly pure in my world, the worst smell there is brimstone and smoke. Occasionally burnt flesh."

Lucy filed away a question about the last portion of his statement for later as she asked, "What do you mean tainted?"

"I can smell chemicals. Everywhere. The smog that accumulates in your cities is terrible, too." At her raised eyebrow, he said, "Internet."

"Just how much time have you been spending on my computer?" she asked wryly.

"A lot. I don't need as much sleep as you do, so I've been trying to research at night. It gives me something to do that isn't too noisy."

She blinked at him. "That's really thoughtful. Thank you."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" he asked with a frown.

She shrugged. "You told me so yourself that you're really only obligated to fulfill your half of the contract, which means you don't have to be nice to me or anything."

Lucy was surprised when he gave her a rather hurt look. "Have I not been nice to you?"

"Of course you have. I'm just…" She glanced around to make sure no one was close before continuing. "Look. You're a demon, and in my world, despite them not being real-" she held her hands up as he rolled his eyes, "- to _most_ people, the lore surrounding them isn't pretty. Plus, from what you've told me about demons, they don't sound particularly nice."

"Most of them aren't," he agreed brusquely, "but I'm half dragon. I was raised by a dragon, and while they don't generally like other beings, I was still raised to be polite. Plus, I like you," he said with a shrug as he paused to stand in front of her. "You're nice, nicer than a lot of humans I've interacted with. You've known since the first night that you could send Happy back and you haven't, despite the fact that it would probably be easier on you to not have two demons in your home.

"Even after he destroyed your kitchen, the only thing you did was ask that we clean up the mess. Most humans would have sent him back by now. While I appreciate it, I really don't understand why you bother."

She tilted her head as she considered him. Just as he was beginning to grow uncomfortable under her scrutiny, she finally spoke again. "You said something about demons liking to exploit loopholes in their contracts, which makes me think that they're generally good at plugging any on their end of one." She paused again to study him, making him fidgety. "I get the feeling you didn't try very hard with ours. Why?"

Before he could answer, the side door of the bar was flung open and Levy called Lucy's name. "You guys coming back or what? Cana's getting some ideas in her head you probably don't want there."

Lucy groaned as she stood, glancing at him as she started to walk back. "You okay to go back inside?"

He studied her a moment, his eyebrows drawn together as he stared at her with a mixture of concern and confusion. "Yeah, I can probably handle another hour or so."

"Good. The band should be done after a few more songs and then I'll be able to visit with Gray again before we leave. Come on," she said tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. As they headed back, she looked over her shoulder with a small smile. "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" he asked, confused again. He was beginning to wonder if that would be a permanent state for him for a while.

"For trusting me." He didn't say anything as he followed her back into the overheated building.

Was that what had happened? Was that the reason he hadn't worded his conditions better? He hadn't thought about the contract much since they'd made it, but she was right. He hadn't been as thorough with his terms as he usually was. With just a cursory thought, he could easily find several loopholes that he usually would have filled in. Had he somehow managed to _trust_ Lucy, after knowing her for so short a time, that he'd been so sloppy with his end of the deal?

_No_. Natsu shrugged the thoughts off. He'd been a fool, yes, but it had been because he was so desperate to leave his realm. Leaving his conditions more open had created an opportunity for her to leave hers looser as well, so he could use them to his advantage later if he must. However, as he watched Lucy follow Levy back to the table, he had a strong feeling that wouldn't be necessary.

"Where did _you two_ wander off to?" Cana asked with a grin when they returned.

"Just getting some air," Lucy said, taking the seat next to Levy. She looked towards the band, picking out the new member easily. "So, is the new guy any good?"

"Really good," Cana answered when Levy didn't acknowledge her question. "I think he's distracting her," she told Lucy in a stage whisper. When Levy continued to not listen, both women laughed, finally startling the smaller woman.

"What are you two laughing at?"

"You, I think," Natsu answered for them.

Levy glared at her friends, making them laugh harder. "Why are you two laughing at me?!"

"She's turning red," Cana said.

"You're right." Lucy tipped her head as she studied the blush on Levy's cheeks. "I think she knows exactly why we're laughing."

"He is attractive, in a rugged, kinda scary way," Cana acknowledged as she looked at the stage.

"_What?_" Levy's entire face reddened at her words. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"_Oh_," Natsu suddenly shouted, earning glares from a few people sitting nearby. "I get it! You think she has romantic feelings for the new guy, right?"

Levy covered her face with her hands as she groaned, and Cana burst out laughing, earning their table more glares. Lucy smiled, but leaned his way, explaining why he was both right and wrong.

Levy continued to whine at Cana to leave her alone until the band finally finished their set and Gray made his way towards their table, where Juvia had conveniently returned in time. The blue haired woman watched him like a hawk as he weaved through the crowd with ease until he stopped at their table. "Hey guys. Didn't expect to see you here," he said, sarcasm heavy in his tone as he slid into the empty space at their table.

The girls all greeted him as Natsu gave him a suspicious look. "Aren't there rules about wearing shirts in public?" he asked.

Gray glanced down at himself, blushing as he rubbed his chest. "Yeah, well, it got warm on stage." Glaring back, he asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"Friend of Lucy's."

Lucy interrupted before they could start bickering. "Gray, this is Natsu. Natsu, Gray. He's an old friend of mine. He's in town visiting so you'll probably see him around a lot in the near future."

"Huh. Whatever." He turned away as Natsu continued to watch him. "So, what did you guys think of the new guy?"

Lucy and Cana both gave Levy wide grins, making the smaller woman glare in response. "He was… interesting."

Lucy smirked at Cana's assessment. "Yeah, he was… intriguing."

"_Guys_…" Levy put her face in her hands as she whined. "_Please_ stop."

Natsu snickered, causing Gray to make a face. Lucy smiled at him, taking pity on her poor friend. "He was good, Gray. I think he was a good choice, even if he doesn't quite fit the aesthetic."

Gray shrugged. "We don't really have an aesthetic, so it's fine. Lyon was the one that found him, and even though he and Jet seem to have some issues to work out, it's working so far."

"Glad to hear it," Lucy said. "Does that mean you guys will be playing here more often, now that you have a guitarist again?" Gray could play guitar as well, but he'd informed them that he preferred to focus on one or the other on stage.

"Juvia, what did you think?" Cana interrupted, looking around Lucy at their silently staring friend.

When Gray gave her a small smile, she practically melted into a puddle as her eyes widened, cheeks becoming even more red. "Well, uh, he was fine. I liked him." Her eyes widened even more. "Not that Juvia likes him like that! I only meant that he played really well- not that Gray doesn't! I mean, not that Juvia's heard him play, but I'm sure you're great!" She gaped at them for a moment before excusing herself.

Gray blinked a few times before giving the laughing Cana a frown. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Lucy said, shooting Natsu a warning look. "Don't mind her. What's the new guy's name?"

The answer came in the form of a rough voice just behind her and Levy. "Gajeel, Blondie. Don't you forget it."

Levy and Lucy both jumped as Cana spit out some of her drink. Gray smiled a little, but said, "You probably shouldn't walk around scaring people like that."

Gajeel barked out a laugh as he put an elbow on each Levy and Lucy's heads. "Where's the fun in that?" Lucy moved his arm off her, but Levy couldn't seem to shake him off as he put more weight on her. "You friends with Blondie and the Shrimp?" He glanced at Cana who was smiling at Levy. "And the drunk?"

Cana grinned at him. "You're just jealous you can't keep up."

The piercings on his face glinted in the light as his grin widened. "Don't tempt me, lady."

Gray sighed loudly, "Gajeel, can you just be nice? Get off Levy." When he finally lifted his weight off the petite female, she turned in her seat to kick him in the shin, making him grunt. "Serves you right," Gray said when Gajeel cussed. "I met these guys a few weeks ago. They were the first to welcome me to the town and offer help if I needed it."

"We could help you out, too, if you need it," Lucy offered, despite the glare Levy gave her.

"Well I'm not helping him," Levy said, fixing her headband. "Not if he's going to be a dink."

Gajeel looked surprised. "Did you just call me a _dink?_"

Levy stuck her nose in the air as she looked at Lucy while Gray laughed. "Are we still doing dinner tomorrow?"

"Who the hell calls someone a _dink?_" Gajeel asked, still being ignored.

"Absolutely," Lucy answered, glancing at Natsu. "Perhaps I can convince Natsu to cook for us. He's trying to practice."

Natsu stopped watching the men for a moment as he looked at her. "What's happening tomorrow?"

"Hey, I'm still talking here," Gajeel said. Gray sighed as he stood and gestured for the other man to join him, then headed for the stage after waving to the others.

Cana smirked at the pierced man as she answered Natsu. "At least once a month the women folk get together at Lucy's place for dinner and girl talk."

Natsu wrinkled his nose. "I don't think I'd enjoy that."

Gajeel growled as he finally stalked away towards the stage. Natsu watched him as Lucy assured him he didn't need to join them for the conversation. "However, if you're serious about your cooking, you could make something for us and you'd get more opinions about how to improve. I'm not very picky, and while Cana isn't either, except for alcohol, I think Levy would be able to give you some good feedback, as well as Juvia."

He smiled as he regarded the trio in front of him. "I suppose I can do that." Suddenly, he sprang to his feet. "Can we go now? I need to look up new recipes to try."

"Sure," Lucy answered, draining her glass. "Just let me say goodbye… wait a minute," she looked around. "Where did Loke go?"

Cana jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Bar. Hitting on someone."

Lucy sighed as she saw Loke leaning against the bar next to a woman with pink hair. "He's never going to learn is he?"

Cana shrugged. "Who knows. Go ahead, I'll let him know you said goodbye."

"Thanks." Lucy looked up at the stage in time to catch Gray's attention and wave a goodbye to him as well. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have a good night."

As she waved to them, Natsu led the way out of the bar, easily making a path for them through the crowd of bodies. Before they made it to the door, an older man with a pipe bumped into her, nearly knocking her into a table. He apologized to Lucy as he caught her arm to steady her, but quickly left without saying anything else as Natsu gave him a dark look.

Lucy squinted at her companion as they left and started walking towards her apartment. Natsu had been nothing but friendly to her girlfriends, but the longer she thought about it, the more she realized he'd been more skeptical about the men who had been around her, especially the man who had bumped her.

"Natsu," she said, once they were away from the crowd and walking along the empty sidewalk. "Are you okay?"

He cocked a brow at her. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

"You just seemed… I don't know. I got the feeling that you weren't feeling exactly friendly towards Gray and Gajeel, or that man that bumped into me before we left. You were okay with Loke when you first met him, and you didn't seem to have a problem with Cana, Levy or Juvia."

He seemed to mull over his answer before he spoke. "It's kind of a dragon thing. I got a bit of the residual feelings you have for your friends when I first read you, and when I did it tonight. You've known them for a while and you trust them, so I don't feel like I need to worry where they're concerned.

"Gray and Gajeel are new, so there's no way to know yet if they're trustworthy. Plus, they're males, and in my realm, the males can be particularly cruel, so we tend to be protective of the females. I doubt I'll be able to feel comfortable around them for a while, at least until I'm sure they're safe for you to be around on your own."

"Sounds like you're being awfully protective for a demon."

He shrugged. "Like I said, it's the dragon half of me. We're very cautious when it comes to those we care about or are in charge of." Lucy felt strangely warm at his words, but before she could figure out what emotion exactly she was feeling, Natsu gave her a big grin. "Plus, if you die, I'll get sent back home and I'm not ready to go back yet."

Not sure how to respond, Lucy didn't say anything else as they walked home.

* * *

Edited 6/12/20


	8. Chapter 8

**Guys, **_**guys**_**, I had a blast with this one. I really hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**As always, happy reading.**

* * *

Two weeks after they made their agreement, Lucy learned that Natsu wasn't just interested in exploring her world. He was also interested in trying new things.

"Natsu… are you sure you want to do this?" she asked from where she sat on her bed.

"Of course! I've never done it before, and I think it'll be fun!"

"What gave you that idea?"

There was a pause. "The internet…"

"You know you can't believe everything you read on the internet, right?"

"No… Does that mean you won't?"

"It doesn't seem like the kind of thing I should do with a demon. Are you sure you'll enjoy yourself? Are you sure you want to do it with just me? I could get Cana or Levy- "

"What? I don't want to do it with them. You're the one who's technically my master, in a sense, so I want to do it with you!" He frowned at her. "Wait, why do you think I wouldn't enjoy myself?"

Lucy sighed. "You know this kind of thing can ruin friendships, right?"

"Are we friends?"

She shrugged. "We could be, but it might be difficult after this."

"I don't understand." He groaned impatiently. "Will you do it or not?"

"Fine!" Lucy said, standing up. "I'll play the damn game! I'm warning you now, though. When I win, you can't accuse me of cheating."

Natsu's grin widened. "Awesome! I'll go get the box." He practically ran out of the room with a whoop as Lucy grumpily watched him go.

She looked at Plue where he was curled up on her bed. Sighing, she said, "This is going to go poorly, isn't it?" When she didn't get an answer, she rubbed Plue's head before following the demon to her living room. "Playing monopoly, a game about making deals, with a _demon_. I must be crazy."

Several minutes later, the box was open and Lucy was setting up the board as Natsu read through the rules. After she handed him his pile of money, she studied him for a while. He was barefoot, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a red t-shirt with his scarf wrapped around his neck, like it always was. His pink hair was in its usual disorder, and she couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like.

Speaking of… Her eyes slid down to where his scarf rested. She'd gotten distracted the first time she'd asked to touch it, but he hadn't said she couldn't. She reached out, intending to just run a finger over the material, but before her hand could touch it, she was suddenly swatted away.

She scowled as she shook out her stinging hand. "Ow! You didn't have to hit me, you could have just said you didn't want me to touch it."

When she looked up from her reddening hand, he looked surprised. When he saw the color of her hand, he dropped the paper he was holding and grabbed it. As he took hold of her wrist, his eyebrows clapped together over his eyes in response to her hiss of pain. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." He loosely wrapped his hands around hers and a dull green light surrounded her hand. When he let go, she realized the pain was completely gone. "I'm really sorry, Lucy," he said, sad eyes trained on her hand.

"It's alright. I won't try again, I was just curious."

He shook his head. "I don't mind that you want to touch it, that's fine." He fiddled with the end of it before unwinding it once and holding it towards her. "Here."

She reached forward slowly, surprised to find that the scarf was smooth and very warm, despite not having been resting against his body. "If you don't mind, then what was that about?" she asked, gesturing vaguely at him.

He seemed to think about his words before answering. "This isn't a normal scarf. It was a gift from my dad, and it's also an important aspect of my magic. In my realm, there are many who would love to have it for themselves and have tried to take it before." His eyes darkened as he watched her carefully touch his scarf. She studied his eyes briefly as she ran her fingers over the material. They looked pained, rather than upset, and she wondered why.

"You look upset," she said, cursing silently for not being able to hold her tongue.

His expression darkened even more as he looked up at her with regret. "You are lucky I remembered who you were when I did."

Her fingers stilled against the smooth material. "What do you mean?"

Natsu's eyes dropped to the scarf again as he raised his hand to touch it as well. "I have enough strength in one finger to kill even the strongest human. If I had remembered any later…" He grimaced as he looked up again. "I reacted before thinking, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Lucy swallowed, ignoring the fear tingling along her spine. "It's okay, I just won't try to do it again." Carefully, she lifted the scarf and wrapped it back around his neck, tucking in the end. "Do you have any other weird triggers like that that I should be careful of?"

Something danced in his eyes as he watched her, some inner turmoil that made her want to help him, to fix whatever that pain was that she could see. The feeling surprised her. "You should be careful when waking me."

She nodded. "Same for me, too. I've been known to punch people out when they tried to wake me up. Not that I remember it," she mused, trying to lighten the mood. "I once gave Cana a black eye and I still don't remember it happening."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You punched Cana?"

"I passed out once at the bar and she tried to wake me up so she could walk me home. I was exhausted, but I let her drag me out anyway. I fell asleep and when she decided she wanted to leave, she tried to wake me up and I decked her before going right back to sleep. She had to call Loke to come get me so he could carry me to the car and into my apartment." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's not the first time I've done something like that, either. I'm a heavy sleeper, and I can be woken up, but it has to be from a distance to avoid injury."

His eyes scanned her body for a moment, doubt written on his face, but she didn't mind. It was honestly surprising to her as well. "Should we get started? I think I wanna be the dog," she said, grabbing her piece.

"I think I wanna be the car," he responded with a smile as he placed his piece next to hers. For several rounds they just played the game, Lucy clarifying some of the rules and answering Natsu's questions as they played.

"Ha! You have to go to jail," she said smugly.

He scowled, but moved his piece to the opposite side of the board. "So, I think I know where I'd like to go first."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she rolled the dice.

"Where I'd like to travel to first."

"Oh, and where is that?"

"Japan. Damn, no doubles."

"Why Japan?"

"They have a lot of weird fish dishes Happy wants to try."

Lucy's hand froze over the board, her piece pinched between her fingers. "… Uh, where is Happy, by the way?"

"Sleeping. You gonna finish moving? I can't roll until you move."

"Sorry." She set down her piece and exchanged some bills for the appropriate property. "When are you going to leave?"

"I was thinking about tomorrow. I noticed plane ticket prices are cheaper during the week. Ugh, no doubles again. Can I just buy my way out?"

"Yes, but-"

"No, nevermind. I don't want to waste my money. Your turn."

"Alright." Lucy rolled again. "I think I have to sit this one out. I'm not that big on fish, and honestly, I don't think I'd like Japan. While I think it would be interesting, the country is heavily populated and I don't really like big crowds. Plus, I can't bail on work. I need to request time off in advance."

Natsu frowned as he failed his last chance to roll a double, then moved his piece out of jail. "What do you mean, in advance?"

They played a few more turns as Lucy explained about requesting time off, both buying two more properties as Lucy made it around the board again. Natsu's eyes narrowed at the pile of properties in front of her, but he didn't comment. "I didn't realize I would need to plan so far in advance for you to come along. I'm sorry."

She waved her hand. "No need to apologize. Like I said, I don't think I'd actually enjoy most of the trip there. I can go to the next one, wherever that ends up being."

"Alright, if you're sure. You didn't specify that I need to take you with on all of my trips, so it shouldn't be an issue there."

Lucy rolled again before grinning widely as she landed on the Free Parking square. "I'm glad."

Natsu squinted at her as she collected the pile from the middle and added it to her own money. "Hmm."

"Hmm, what?"

"Nothing."

"I told you you were going to lose."

He smiled at her, a wide, slightly intimidating smile. "We'll just see, won't we?"

"How about this," she said, holding up a card. "I will trade you the Boardwalk for Tennessee Avenue and St. James Place."

"You want a two for one?"

"It's the most expensive property on the whole board. If you build there, I'd go broke in one shot."

Natsu shook his head. "I don't think so. That's still a two for one, plus, you'd get to build on three properties, and I only get to build on two."

Lucy looked at the piles of properties in front of them both. "Alright, what about if I add in Vermont Avenue?"

"I only have one of the light blue ones. What's the point if you still have one I'd have to trade for later?"

Lucy studied the set up again. If she could just get those orange properties, she had him for sure. "Alright, I'll give you immunity on the railroads."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. "What? You have all four of them. I'm paying a pretty penny to ride those, and they're on every side of the board."

"Yep, and if you agree to the two for one, I'll also give you immunity on the railroads for the rest of the game."

Natsu studied the board, glancing up at her every so often. What she was offering didn't feel fair on her end. In his last go around alone he'd hit three of the four railroads, so why would she give up the money from those sources? Maybe he should have done more research about the game and how to win so he'd know what tactic she was trying to employ, but as it stood, he was at a loss. She was right, though, that the purple properties would be very detrimental to her if she landed on them after he built there.

"Alright, you've got yourself a deal," he said, lifting his hand to trade his cards for the one she offered.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" A loud, commanding voice filled the room around them, surprising Lucy so bad she jumped in her chair, scattering some pieces from the board. Natsu clamped his hands over his ears, scowling until he saw who was standing next to the table. His eyes widened in terror as he stared at the female before him.

Erza Scarlet, the demon in charge of overseeing the contracts between demons and humans, was glaring down at him with venom in her eyes. He swallowed as he sank down in his chair slightly. "He- hey Erza, long time no see. How you been?"

As she glared at him, he could almost feel the blood in his body turn to fire. "What exactly do you think you're doing, Natsu? I heard you trying to make another deal, when you are already contracted to a human. What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Lucy stared, her jaw slack, as Natsu explained to Erza about the game they were playing. The demon, or at least Lucy assumed she was a demon, was ridiculously beautiful. She had pale skin and unnaturally shiny red hair. It wasn't red like Loke's, nor like any other redhead in her world. It was red like freshly spilled blood, red like the most vibrant lipstick, red like the deepest embers in a raging fire, a fire she could almost feel radiating off the female. Her eyes were also red, and seemed to glow with an inner fire as she stared Natsu down.

Even more impressive was the armor she wore. Lucy had never seen a suit of armor in person, and certainly never like the set in front of her. The armor she wore covered everything but her head, legs, and a small gap on her arms. She wore a skirt and knee high boots, but had no sword or weapon that Lucy could see. Even without a full set, Lucy was more than sure that the female demon was a force to be reckoned with, if Natsu's reaction was anything to go by.

Suddenly, those eyes snapped over to her, causing her mouth to dry instantly as fear set in. "Is this true?"

Unable to form words, Lucy gaped at her like a fish until the armored beauty slammed her fist down on the table. "_It is true?_"

Natsu glared at the other woman. "You mind, Erza? You're scaring her."

The fire in her eyes died down a little as she stood straight again. She studied Lucy for a moment, then gave her a small smile. "You have nothing to fear, human. My name is Erza Scarlet. I am in charge of overseeing the contracts made between demons and humans, as well as keeping an eye on troublemakers like this one." She glared momentarily at Natsu, causing him to huff. "I am merely trying to discern what is happening here. Can you please explain the deal you and he tried to make just now?"

"Uh, ye- yeah. We're just playing a game. Making deals to trade is a big part of the game, so we were just… doing that…" Lucy's voice grew smaller and smaller, despite the woman's reassurances. "Can he not do that here? Do I have to watch how we agree to-"

"No, it's quite alright. It's just because I have to keep a close eye on him that I was even aware of what you were doing. Now that I know it is happening, I won't interfere again."

"What do you mean, keeping a close eye on me?!" Natsu yelled. "Don't you have better things to do than babysit me?"

"Yes," she said, turning a deadly glare on him, causing him to cave in on himself. "However, you are a troublemaker, and as you've never been in an extended contract before, it has fallen to me to keep an eye on you so that you do not cause too much unnecessary damage."

"I don't always break stuff," he muttered, lowering his eyes.

Erza turned her gaze towards Lucy again, who had just noticed that there was a large tail sticking out the back of Erza's skirt. It was about as thick as her thigh near the base and several feet long, covered in red skin. How had she not noticed before?

"If at any point you feel that he is not fulfilling his end of the contract, or causing too much of a ruckus, just speak my name and I will come deal with him. That goes for Happy as well. It is my job to make sure that Natsu is behaving and performing his duties appropriately." Her eyes darkened. "However, that also goes for you. Should you do anything to endanger his or Happy's lives, wellbeing, or the secret of our existence, I will have no choice but to intervene." She leaned forward, her face inches from Lucy's. "You would regret giving me reason to do so."

"Yes ma'am," Lucy squeaked.

Erza leaned back with a smile, her eyes no longer pits of danger and terror. "Now that that's settled, I hope I won't have to see you soon." With that she disappeared.

Lucy hugged herself as she looked across the table. "Well, she's terrifying."

Natsu nodded. "You can say that again." He reached over and fixed the pieces that had been knocked over. "Would you like to continue, or do you need a break?"

After slowly getting to her feet, Lucy nodded. "I think I'd like a moment. I'm going to make some tea."

After filling her kettle and placing in on the stove, she jumped as something settled on her shoulders. Natsu smoothed the blanket he'd brought over her shoulders, resting his hands on her shoulders for a moment. "Don't worry about Erza. She's terrifying, sure, but she means well. And she's only dangerous when someone breaks the rules, so you should be okay."

Lucy nodded her understanding as she pulled the blanket closed in front of herself. "Are there any other demons I should be worrying about popping up into my kitchen? I think I might be at my limit with you three."

"Probably not. There aren't many who can show up on their own, and I can't imagine any of the others having a reason to do so."

Lucy nodded. "Alright. Well!" She whirled around, eyes bright. "I think we have a trade to finish."

Natsu grinned. "That we do. I can't wait for you to land on that Boardwalk. You're going to regret it."

* * *

An hour later, Natsu gaped at the board in front of them while Lucy cackled loudly. "HOW?!"

Lucy didn't answer, merely continued to laugh as she hugged her arms around herself, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I- told- you," she gasped between laughs.

"You didn't land on any of my properties the last five laps you've made on the board! But somehow _I_ landed on those stupid orange ones every single lap since you started building! I even landed on two on the same trip! WHAT MAGIC IS THIS?"

Lucy grinned while she tried to catch her breath. "Not magic. I'm just that good."

He continued as though she hadn't even spoken. "Not to mention, I haven't landed on those damn railroads even once since you gave me immunity. What did you do?!"

"Nothing," she said as she wiped away her tears. "Now pay up!"

Natsu counted his money, flipping over his property cards to calculate mortgages and the funds he'd get back for selling back his buildings. Suddenly he stood up, essentially flipping the board as he knocked the table on to two legs, causing the game pieces to fall into Lucy's lap as she caught the table through her renewed laughter.

He grumbled as he stalked out of the room, ignoring her pleas to return. "Oh come on, don't be a baby. Get back in here and help me clean this up!" Natsu ignored her as he threw himself on the couch, choosing not to respond as she continued to make fun of him while she cleaned up the floor.

What was this world coming to when he, a demon, beings known for their ability to make impenetrable contracts, couldn't win at a game that hinged on making the right deals?

"You only won because you're lucky!" he hollered as he rolled over and ignored the blond, who couldn't help but smile broadly as she cleaned up the game. She pretended not to hear him as he growled something about never playing it again. She made him a quick cup of tea before returning the game to its shelf and going to take a nice relaxing bath.

Half an hour later, when he suddenly started shouting again, she merely grinned as she sank into the water, hoping he wouldn't melt the metal car she'd placed with care near his cup.

* * *

**Okay, this ended up being kind of long, but it was a blast to write. And the strategy Lucy employed is from a real experience I had playing with my in-laws. I was playing with my husband, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and father-in-law. My sister-in-law was knocked out first. My husband traded his orange property to his father in exchange for immunity on the second side of the board (the rest of which my FIN owed.) My brother-in-law lost his money to his father, (who then built up the red properties so that whole chunk of the board was a minefield,) and my husband lost his to me. I had one set of property with a couple houses each (don't remember which ones,) the railroads and utilities, with a few other random properties. I then made three laps around the board without landing on a single one of his properties (because I am sometimes ridiculously lucky in that game) before hitting two in a row and losing everything (I'd inherited a lot of mortgaged property.)**

**Moral of the story- owning the second side of the board, or the orange and red properties, is what wins you that game.**

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Edited 6/13/20


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright guys, fair warning, this FT AU is going to **_**also**_ **be an AU of our world. I'm using Earth as a basis, and in an attempt to save myself from a lot of research I don't have time for, I'm going to be making up quite a bit of the geography as I go along. I already am, since I've put Magnolia near the equator without choosing an exact spot. So if I write about somewhere you've been and know something's not right, that's why.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"So Lu, are you having a party again this year?" Levy asked as she bit into her apple. She, Lucy, Cana and Juvia were taking a long lunch since they'd just gotten the all clear that the November issue of the magazine was officially finished.

"I don't think so. Things have been a little crazy this year with Natsu around, and I didn't have time to properly prepare for a Halloween party."

"Aw, but you do one every year," Juvia pouted. "Juvia was going to ask Gray to go with her… You have to have one!"

"I'd help you with food, if that's the problem," Levy said.

"And I know for a fact that you have plenty of decorations. We can all help you set up," Cana added.

"I don't know, guys. There's a lot of clean up that goes into it-"

"You're house is spic and span all the time, Lu, even with your new house guest." Levy leaned forward, eyes squinting hard as she studied her friend. "What's the real reason?"

Lucy took a large bite of her salad as she contemplated her options. She'd been learning more and more about demons recently from Natsu, and she was pretty sure she didn't like what he had told her. Learning that they liked to find ways to taunt and prank humans through the thinning barrier of their worlds on Halloween night had made her a little twitchy. All she wanted to do was lock herself in her apartment and stay there until sunrise. It didn't help that Natsu was looking forward to being able to drop his facade for the evening. She wasn't sure she wanted the others around while he was like that. The horns and scales could be explained away as just a really good costume, but the size difference was going to be plainly noticeable. How would they _not_ have questions? Maybe she could convince him to just go out and try to blend in at a bar or something…

"I'll think about it," she finally said, ignoring Levy's question. "I don't know what Natsu has planned for the night, so let me talk to him first."

Juvia opened her mouth to speak, but stopped before she said anything. Instead she continued to stare beyond them towards the window facing the street. Levy was the first to notice. "What's up, Juvia?"

Juvia smiled and pointed across the room, causing the other three to turn. Cana snorted then took a drink from her soda while Juvia and Levy giggled. Natsu was outside of the building, his hands and face pressed against the glass searching the room. Once he spotted their table, he pulled one hand away to wave at them as he grinned.

"What is he doing here?" Lucy mumbled under her breath as she stood.

"Wasn't he supposed to be out of town?" Cana asked.

"Out of the country," Lucy clirified. "He just left for Japan on Thursday, he wasn't supposed to be back for another few days. I'll be right back."

As soon as Lucy left the lunchroom, Levy turned back. "Ten dollars says he missed her."

"Twenty says he got her a souvenir," Cana countered.

"Fifty says we can use him to convince her to have the party," Juvia said, drawing smiles from the other two.

"Ooo, I like how you think," Cana said before they all turned to watch the pair outside.

"What are you doing back already?" Lucy asked as she joined Natsu on the sidewalk, conscious of the fact that her friends were still on the other side of the glass, no doubt watching them.

Natsu shrugged. "Happy wasn't impressed with the food. He said seafood isn't quite the same as fish and after the live octopus, he decided he'd had enough. And while it's interesting over there, it's also very loud, and it was hard on my ears."

"I didn't even think of that," she said. "I could have warned you if I had."

"You kind of did, since you mentioned the crowds, but don't worry about it," he reassured her. "It was a fun experience at least, but I don't think I'd like to go back any time soon."

"Well I'm glad you had fun." Lucy glanced at the glass and then turned to lean against it before speaking again. "So, uh, I actually had something to ask you."

"What's up?" He crossed his arms and leaned next to her.

"Well, Halloween is at the end of next week and I was curious what you were going to do."

He looked surprised. "Oh. I guess I hadn't thought about it yet. Usually Erza ropes me into helping her police the more troublesome demons in our world so they don't do anything too crazy to your world. Since I'm here this year, she can't ask me to help, so I can do whatever I want, but I had really only planned on hanging out at your place. Without this," he said, gesturing at himself. "It's nice to have a break every now and then." Lucy nodded, thoughtful. "Why do you ask? Are you trying to make plans?"

Lucy hesitated before answering. "Well, usually I host a party at my place-"

"Awesome! Sounds like fun!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't even know what we do."

He shrugged, grinning widely. "It's a party and your friends will be there, right? So it's bound to be a good time! Can I come?"

"Uh…" Lucy watched him as he inched closer and closer to her, his dark eyes pleading, _and was he sticking out his lip, too?!_

"I was actually still trying to decide if I was going to do it this year."

He frowned. "Why wouldn't you?"

When she realized he was genuinely curious, she sighed and then gestured at him. "Isn't that obvious?"

"What, because I'm here?"

"I don't know if we can reasonably explain away your true form."

"Oh, I wouldn't show up in my true form," he said, his expression serious. "That's not meant for human eyes."

"So the way you were when you showed up wasn't your true form?"

"Absolutely not. I can count on one hand the number of times I've used my true form in the last- uh, in a long time. The one I showed up in is the one I prefer to use," he said. "It requires the least amount of magic to hold, so it doesn't bother me to maintain it."

"Gotcha." Lucy hummed a little. "Well, my issue still stands. You were like eight feet tall when I met you. That'll be hard to explain away if my friends see you like that."

"I could say I'm using stilts," he suggested.

Lucy blinked at him. Then she blinked again. "Why didn't I think of that?"

He shrugged. "Don't know, but now you have your explanation so you can have your party! I get to come, right?"

"I suppose so," she said. "If you think you can blend in well enough, I can't think of any other reason for you not to."

"Whoo, yeah!" Natsu pumped his fist. "I'm stoked, this is going to be awesome! What do I have to do to get ready? Do you need help planning or decorating or anything?"

"No, the girls have already volunteered. Actually," she corrected herself, "you'll have to find somewhere for Happy to go. I can't explain away a talking, flying blue cat."

"Happy has a human form, too, you know."

"Does he?" Lucy tapped her chin as she reconsidered. "Still, if he came I'd have to come up with some reason for him to be here, too, and I don't want to keep piling on the lies to my friends, you know?"

"I understand," he said with a nod, "but you'll have to explain it to him. Halloween is his favorite holiday."

"Can't he just go out and do something on his own?"

"Well, usually he-" Natsu froze, his mouth parted as he smiled. "Actually, now that I think about it, I think he'll be fine."

Lucy gulped. "What is that smile about? What does he usually do?"

"Nothing!" Natsu straightened and dug into his pocket, pulling out a small brown bag to distract her. He took the hand closest to him and closed her fingers around it. "Here. I got you something."

"You… got me something? Why?"

"I missed having you around," he answered with a shrug. "Plus, that's what you humans do- get souvenirs when you go on trips. I didn't even need to do any research to figure that out. Every other shop over there boasted that they had the great souvenirs in the country. Not that I agreed, but I thought you'd like something so I got you that." He started walking backwards away from her as he lifted his hand in a wave. "Have fun at work, I'll see ya when you get home!"

"Alright, thanks! See you later!" Lucy slowly made her way back towards the door as she opened the gift. Reaching in, she pulled out a small Japanese style crystal dragon with a long body made up of reds, oranges, and yellows. It's mouth was open and it was breathing fire. Lucy smiled as she entered the cafeteria, forgetting for a moment that her friends were waiting for her, until she heard a loud "Ha!"

Startled, she looked up and saw Cana pointing a finger at the other two. "I told you!"

"You told them what?" Lucy asked as she sat back down.

"I told them he was going to get you something, and he did!"

"Probably because he missed her," Levy added, squinting her eyes at Lucy as she blushed. "I'm right, aren't I? _Aren't I?_ Ha! I was right, too!"

Cana stuck her tongue out, but Lucy interrupted her before she could say anything. "Alright, knock it off. Instead of your guys' incessant need to find romantic feelings where there are none, how about you guys start helping me plan the Halloween party? Cana was right, I do-"

Loud laughter from both Cana and Levy made Lucy pause. Her silence turned to confusion when she noticed the smug grin on Juvia's face. "What? What did I miss? Guys? _Stop laughing and tell me what I missed!_"

* * *

As Lucy shut the door to her home, she barely had time to set down her purse before Happy launched himself at her and landed face first in her chest. "LUUUUUUCY! Natsu said I can't come to the Halloween party! He gets to go, how come I can't come, too?!"

Lucy sighed as she wrapped an arm around him so she could lean over and take off her shoes. "Sorry Happy, but I've got enough on my hands keeping an eye on Natsu and making sure he doesn't get himself into any hot water. I don't want to have to keep up lies about both of you, okay? I don't mind doing it once I go out traveling with you guys, but back home, I'll already have to explain why he doesn't come around anymore once you guys go back next year. I don't want to have to do it with both of you."

"Actually, you don't-"

"Hey Lucy, welcome back!" Natsu entered the kitchen as she set her lunchbox on the table.

"Hey. What have you guys been up to this afternoon?"

"Nothing much, just napping."

"Napping? Didn't you sleep on the plane?"

Natsu's face immediately turned green and he put his hand over his mouth as he made a gurgling sound. "He can't sleep well on planes," Happy said. "He gets motion sickness really bad."

She frowned. "Oh, that sucks. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Natsu said, a little less green as he looked out the window. "I usually just walk everywhere, so I don't have to worry about it."

"Yeah, before we came here, it had been years since he was in a vehicle. The last was with Erza and-"

"Don't!" Natsu's face turned even greener and sat at the table. He laid his head on the tabletop and focused on his breathing to try and ease the suddenly roiling in his stomach. "Don't mention that, or I really will be sick."

"Sorry," Happy said, flying out of Lucy's grip.

"That reminds me," Lucy said as she sat next to Natsu. "Erza said something while she was here about keeping your secret. I had some questions about that. Wouldn't you guys _want_ humans to know about your kind, so you can make contracts with us? I mean, it's just easier for me to not have to explain why I have a demon living with me, but from your end, why would that be an issue?"

"We've had humans abuse the contracts they've made with demons before, using loopholes to get more out of the demons than they had agreed to. Humans that are thirsty for power have been known to use demons and abuse their abilities; because of that, special rules were made to combat them so that demons couldn't be taken advantage of." He scoffed. "Most don't see the irony in that."

"So how do you stop people who have made deals from telling everyone or making more contracts with the same or other demons?"

"Once a contract is fulfilled, the demon has the right to remove themselves from the memory of the person they were contracted with. Most of them do, especially for the short term contracts. It's harder to erase that knowledge from people who make long term contracts, but demons are good judges of characters, surprisingly. It allows us to be selective about who we make contracts with, so the ones who would abuse the knowledge don't get long term ones.

"The people who do manage to get long term contracts generally only have parts of their memories erased, usually to remove sensitive information to protect the demon. That is, unless both agree in advance to make another contract in the future. Then they usually allow the human to keep their memories long term. That hasn't happened in centuries, though. In fact, I think there have been less than half a dozen contracts that have lasted as long as ours will in the millenia that my world has existed, and even less that have agreed to make more than one."

Lucy's eyes widened at his words. So she might not even remember him after he was gone? Suddenly, the year long contract felt too short. She'd gotten used to having Natsu around. While she sometimes missed her privacy, she had realized she liked having him, and even Happy, with her in the evening to keep her company. She had grown to care a great deal for the chaotic half demon, half dragon, and she would miss him terribly once he was gone.

He seemed to notice her unhappiness because he smiled. "Don't worry, Luce, I won't take your memories." With a shrug, he added, "I don't have any secrets, and you're too nice to tell anyone anyway, right?"

She blushed, but before she could say anything else he suddenly leaned forward. "So? Tell me about the party! I wanna help!"

Lucy laughed as he practically bounced in his seat. She got up to make a pot of tea as she told him about the plans that she'd already made with her friends. He said he wouldn't take any of her memories, but even if he did, she didn't think she would mind. She would cherish whatever memories she was able to keep.

As he launched into a heated argument against one of her choices for the party, she merely smiled as she poured them each a cup, then settled in to listen to his impassioned speech. With a quiet word, she caused him to fall silent for a moment, pout on his face, before he jumped into a new and more elaborate argument.

_Yeah,_ she thought with a smile, _whatever memories I get to keep will be enough._

* * *

Edited 6/13/20


	10. Chapter 10

**Now would probably be a good time to let you guys know I've never read the Fairy Tail manga and I'm not caught up on the anime. I'm working on it but it's slow going. **

**As always, happy reading!**

* * *

"Come on, little buddy, you said you were okay with it!"

"Well I'm not! I don't wanna hide, I wanna come out and join the party!"

Natsu sighed as he sat on the floor next to Happy. They could clearly hear the music playing through the walls. Lucy had started it early, since Happy had started throwing a fit an hour before the party was supposed to start. Lucy had threatened to send him back if he didn't calm down, but even that hadn't swayed the little Exceed from his complaints. Natsu had offered to take him to his room for a while while Lucy finished setting up. Levy would be there any minute and Natsu was at his wits end trying to convince Happy to stay out of the way.

Originally, he'd figured that Happy would just do what he usually did on Halloween and run around the town pranking the humans. Exceeds had learned centuries ago that they were able to easily pass over into the humans' realm on Halloween through the thinning of the walls. None of the other demons were able to, and since the Exceeds' fun was generally harmless, they were allowed the freedom to move between the two worlds for the day.

For some reason, this year Happy had decided he wanted to stay with Natsu, who had already agreed to go to the party. Natsu sighed as he heard the front door open. Even over the music, he could tell that Levy that had shown up.

"Come on, Happy, it's going to be dark soon. Can't you just go find Carla and Lily and hang out with them for the night like you usually do?"

"I do that every year," Happy whined. "I wanna go to the party, too! How come you get to go and I can't!"

"You know why," Natsu said.

"It's not fair!" Happy yelled, taking flight. Before he could make it to the door, Natsu reached out and grabbed him, pulling him close.

"Come on, Happy, please? You just need stay out of the apartment for one night. You can come back once the party is over. Afterwards, I'll do whatever you want to make it up to you, okay? Please?" Natsu didn't know if there _was_ a way to make it up to his buddy, but he would try. Lucy had given him one job for this party, and he was determined to do it.

Happy's eyes welled up with tears. "But it's a Halloween party… You know Halloween is my favorite!"

"I know, buddy, but Lucy's calling the shots here."

Happy gave him the most defeated look he'd ever seen before making his way to the window. "Alright. I'll be back later."

"I'm really sorry, Happy. I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

His buddy just continued floating towards the window with a whispered, "Aye, sir." Natsu frowned as he watched Happy leave, but pushed aside the guilt as he propped open the window to make sure Happy could get back in. After making sure his door was fully closed, he turned down the radio in the living room before making his way to the kitchen.

Both Levy and Lucy had their backs to him as they leaned over the table, so he tiptoed his way over to them and tapped them on the shoulders. When they turned around, Levy let out a little shriek, causing Lucy to jump. Lucy didn't make a sound as she studied Natsu, her face giving nothing away. She turned towards Levy, who was staring up at Natsu, wide eyed and a little terrified. "N- Natsu?"

"Yep," he said, grinning.

"Wow. That's some costume," Levy said, moving forward to study his outfit.

"Thanks!" He didn't move as she made a lap around him, touching his cloak and skin, carefully stepping around his tail.

"This is really incredible. It's almost as if it's real."

Lucy let out a quiet sigh as Levy took a step away, smiling as she started talking to him. Levy had the most critical eye Lucy had ever seen. So long as Natsu could convince her, he could convince anyone. She smiled as she moved to add a couple bowls to the table.

"I like your costume, too! I'm guessing you're a librarian?"

She nodded. "It's kind of my go to costume."

"I think you're missing an adjective," Lucy mumbled, drawing Natsu's attention.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not noticing the squinty eyed look Levy gave her friend.

Lucy smirked. "I don't think it's suppose to be _just_ a librarian costume."

Levy blushed, subtly tugging her short skirt down and putting her other hand in front of the top of her shirt where it was unbuttoned. "I don't know what you mean." Meanwhile, Natsu was staring at Levy with confusion written all over his face as he studied her.

Lucy stopped his gawking by tugging him into the living room. "Levy, can you grab the last couple trays from the fridge? We'll be back out in a minute."

"Sure thing, Lu."

Lucy pulled Natsu behind her down the hallway, pausing outside her door. "So? Did you figure something out with Happy?"

"Yeah, he'll be out of the way until your party is over."

"Good," she sighed. "I hate to make him miss out on the fun, but I just don't want to keep adding on more lies, you know?"

"I understand. He does, too, he's just having a hard time because it's his favorite holiday."

She nodded. "I'll try to make it up to him after the party's over."

"He'll appreciate that." Natsu looked down at her T-shirt and shorts. "So do you still need to change?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting until I had everything set up." Lucy took a small step back, hoping Natsu didn't notice. "It'll take me a little bit, so you could keep Levy company while I'm getting ready."

"Alright." Natsu frowned as he felt a small spike from her emotions. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly… no." She gave him an apologetic smile. "You're kind of terrifying right now. That form in this dark hallway," she said as she gestured around herself, "kinda gives me the creeps. Nothing against you, I know you won't hurt me, it's just…" She shrugged, unable to find the words.

"Sorry," he said, taking several steps away. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's really okay," she reassured him. "I'm just going to go get ready for the party, okay?" When he nodded, she ducked into her room.

Natsu frowned as he waited for Lucy's fear to wear off. It spiked for a long moment, before he finally felt it ease. His frown deepened as he stared at her closed door. _She's keeping something from me._ Before he could think about it further, Levy came around the corner, and called his name.

"You mind helping me? I can't reach the top cupboards."

"Sure thing," he said, his smile back in place when he turned and followed her to the kitchen.

Lucy continued to breathe deeply as she heard Natsu move to help Levy. She slid down to the floor, keeping her eyes open to help combat the memories that tried to cloud her vision. Dark, shadowed images threatened to invade her mind, but she focused on her breathing as she willed them away.

Lucy knew Natsu was nothing like those monsters. Despite only knowing him for a few weeks- despite literally being a demon. He was nothing like those animals, and she refused to allow them to influence her time with the friendly half-demon.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Lucy, I still don't see it." Lucy glared at Cana's joke.

"Don't worry, Princess, I do," Loke said with a grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Of course you do." She smoothed down the front of her dress, momentarily regretting choosing the poofy gown. She probably could have managed to make a more comfortable princess costume, but she had been so excited about how good she looked she hadn't been able to resist.

"Well, I think you look great," Gray said, joining the trio.

Lucy perked up. "Thanks, Gray. Glad you could come!"

He shrugged. "I didn't have any other plans. Jet went to his parents' and Lyon decided to stay home to watch old Halloween movies with a new friend."

"Does that mean Gajeel agreed to come?" Cana asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah, he should be here soon."

Cana and Lucy shared a smile, before Lucy gestured at Gray's outfit. "So, what are you supposed to be?" Gray was bare chested and half covered in black paint just as dark as his pants.

"A demon hunter," he said. At their confused looks, he elaborated. "It's from a story I used to like alot when I was younger. It's about a demon hunter who spends his time fighting demons and sending them back to hell. He ends up getting infected by them and slowly turning into one. In the end, he gives up his remaining life as a human to live between the two worlds acting as a guardian, spending eternity fighting demons to keep them in hell."

"Wow, that sounds like an interesting read," Loke said as he carefully itched under his chin, avoiding the paint on his face.

"It is. I actually have a copy of it back at my place if you'd like to read it."

"I think I would."

"I've got dibs after him!" Lucy said, making Cana snort as she took a drink from her beer. Lucy raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Not a thing."

"Don't be jealous just because he has a more interesting costume."

Cana snorted again as she finished her drink. "You guys always try too hard." She was wearing a gauzy, mostly see through top with tight capris. Her hair was loose around her shoulders with a headband around the top of her head, a bright blue stone glinting in the middle of her forehead.

"What are you?" Gray asked.

Cana pulled a deck of tarot cards from out of seemingly nowhere and flashed them at him. "A fortune teller. Want me to tell your future?"

"Uh…"

"She's actually pretty good at it," Lucy said.

"What do ya say, demon hunter?"

"I think I'll pass, thanks," Gray said.

Loke laughed. "Probably a good idea. The last time she told me mine, I ended up losing a bet on, what she called, a 'sure thing.'" Loke made air quotes before scratching near his chin again.

Lucy glanced at him. "You doing okay?"

"I've got an itch. I think I'm going to go borrow the mirror in your bathroom so I don't ruin my facepaint. I'll be back."

Gray cocked his head to the side as he watched the other man leave. "So what's he supposed to be?"

Lucy answered as Cana excused herself to go to the kitchen. "The zodiac constellation, Leo the Lion."

"Interesting interpretation, with the lion's head on a man's body."

Lucy nodded. "It's his favorite costume. He does something else every other year but-" She grunted as something bumped into her. Turning, she saw Levy catching her balance next to her.

"Sorry, Lu." Lucy saw Levy glare at Juvia, who was trying to look innocent as she spoke to Natsu The demon looked confused as his eyes darted between the two.

"Jealous, much?" Levy muttered. Raising her voice again, she looked at Gray with a smile. "Happy Halloween, Gray! Glad to see you could make it!"

"Hey Levy." Distracted, Gray stared past the pair at Natsu, who was staring back. "Well, that's kinda ironic."

"What is?" Levy asked.

Gray tipped his head in Natsu's direction. "He dressed up as a demon and I came as a demon hunter. I wonder who would win?"

Easily hearing him, Natsu snorted before coming over, with Juvia a step behind him. "Demons always win, don't you know that?"

"I don't know about that. Humans are still running things around here, from what I can see."

Natsu smiled, showing off impressively sharp teeth. Before he could respond, Lucy pulled Juvia forward. "Hey Juvia, you haven't said hi yet!"

Juvia's face instantly started to redden as she stuttered out a hello. A knock at the front door drew Lucy's attention, but Cana called out from the kitchen that she could get it just as Loke came out of the hallway and headed that way. Gray complimented Juvia on her mermaid costume before explaining again what he was. Levy immediately started asking questions about the story, dragging him over to the couch so she could grill him. Juvia followed as well, leaving Natsu and Lucy alone in the middle of the living room.

Natsu continued to study Gray as he spoke to Levy and Juvia. Lucy watched him for a moment before asking, "Is something wrong, Natsu?"

"Why do you ask?"

She waved a hand in front of his face, drawing his attention. "You're staring at Gray awfully hard. I know you've got some demon- dragon thing going on, but could you try to not be so obvious about the staring? It's rude."

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry." He looked at Gray again, only a glance this time, before he turned his body towards her. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't think I like that guy."

"Why is that? Don't tell me it's because of the costume."

"Nah," he shook his head. "It's not even close to accurate. I don't know what it is, he just rubs me the wrong way."

_Not even close to accurate?_ "I don't think I under-"

"Lucy, you have a guest!" Cana called from the kitchen. "Well, multiple, to be precise."

Lucy frowned as she glanced around. "Gajeel is the only one I don't see," she mumbled. She made her way towards the open door, Natsu only a step behind. Gajeel was sitting at the table, stuffing his mouth. He grinned as she entered the room, his skin flashing in the light. It looked like it was painted, covered in shiny silver scales like a dragon. "Hey, Blondie. Thanks for the invite."

"No problem, glad you could come." She glanced around the room and then looked at where Cana was standing near the front door.

Cana gestured as she spoke. "They're still out here."

Lucy ignored Gajeel and Natsu as they took jabs at each other's costumes as she moved around the wall. Cana smirked as she moved to join them.

As she made it to the door, Lucy tried not to frown. "Hello."

On the other side of the door were four people. The tallest was around six feet with dark skin and black hair. He was wearing black robes and sported a scar across one eye. In front of him were two young girls, probably in their teens. One had pale skin and white hair, and was dressed up as a schoolgirl. Next to her was another girl about the same height with blue hair who was dressed up as a doctor.

In front of them both was a young man with blue hair and a mischievous smirk. He wore blue pants with a matching colored shirt. She could see white wings poking out from his back and there was a strange mask pulled up on the top of his head that looked like a blue cat face. She was positive she'd never seen any of them before.

"I'm sorry, but I do know you guys?"

"Oh come on, Lucy, do you really not see it?" the boy said with a familiar voice. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her jaw falling open.

The boy's smirk widened. "I thought the outfit would be familiar enough, but maybe I was wrong."

Happy was here, where he'd supposedly agreed to not be, waiting to be let in to her party. Where she'd have to come up with more lies, that she had already decided she didn't want to make up, _on the spot_. She'd given Natsu _one_ job, and not only had Happy ignored her request, he'd shown up with extra people! _He took care of it, my ass!_ Furious, Lucy yelled for Natsu over her shoulder and then gave Happy the angriest look she could manage. When he began to look scared and took a small step back, she didn't feel the least bit bad.

Before Natsu could join her, she decided she would _definitely_ be doing some drawing in her immediate future. That flying flea ball was going home!


	11. Chapter 11

**I should have had this written and posted earlier this week, but I got super sick on Monday, then my little man got sick on Tuesday and neither of us were getting sleep, so it took me longer to get over it than usual. Thanks for all the love guys, I appreciate every little bit!**

**As always, happy reading!**

* * *

Natsu was surprised at the anger he could feel through Lucy's mark as she called for him. He had very little experience with summoning tags, so he was still getting used to what accompanied it. He'd figured out early on that he didn't feel Lucy's emotions all the time, but when he did, it meant that she was feeling them very strongly. The anger she felt now was stronger than any other emotion he'd felt from her since making their contract and that worried him.

As he joined her in the entryway, he didn't have a chance to ask what was wrong before Lucy grabbed the cloth near his throat and yanked him down to her height. Her eyes were blazing, causing his words to die in his throat. She spoke quietly and firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

"I ignore every jab he makes about me 'loooooving' my guy friends. I ignore all the times he interrupts me when I'm working, despite having deadlines I need to meet. I ignore the dead animals he sometimes leaves at the front door because 'that's how cats let you know they care,'" she fumed, making one handed air quotes a second time before pulling him closer.

"I didn't freak out when he used the microwave to warm up his fish, despite it making the apartment smell like ass for an entire week. I didn't freak out when he clawed up my good spare sheets, despite how expensive they were. I didn't even freak out when he made a mess in the kitchen, _his very first night here_, despite ruining my food, covering everything in flour and running up my electric bill."

Lucy's face was only a hair's breadth from Natsu's at this point, the venom in her voice actually scaring Natsu as she finished. "I can't make them leave now that my friends know they're here, but I'm leaving _you_ to find a good excuse for them being here. I know Happy is your best friend, but I have been _more_ than accommodating. He is going back once this party is over." With that, she released him and went back into the kitchen, where Natsu could hear her starting a conversation with Loke.

He turned back to the people at the door, all four looking worried. It was obvious they had all heard her words, and the blue haired girl began to tear up. "I'm sorry, Natsu, I didn't know we weren't wanted here! Happy said it would be okay if we came!"

Natsu smiled, trying to ease her unhappiness. "It's okay, Wendy, it's not your fault."

The girl next to her humphed as she crossed her arms. "I knew this was going to happen. You can never trust the tomcat."

Happy's shoulders slumped a little before he looked up at Natsu. "I really did it this time, didn't I?"

"Not sure what you expected, little buddy. I would've expected her to respond like this after what you did to the kitchen our first night here. You shouldn't have tried to push her so hard." When Happy's eyes started to fill with tears, Natsu sighed and put a hand on his head. "I'll see what I can do, okay?" Looking up he looked at the the blue haired girl and the taller male. "I'm surprised to see you in that form, Lily, and you at all, Wendy. What are you guys doing here?"

"I'm in the middle of a contract," Wendy said proudly, her eyes still bright from her tears. "I made sure to get tonight off so I could hang out with Carla on this side, since I don't get the chance very often."

"I thought it would be a nice change, allowing Wendy to spend time among the humans, with me around, of course. When Happy suggested attending this party, I didn't have a good reason to say no, but now-"

"We don't want to overstay our welcome," came a deep reply from Pantherlily. "I admit, I had my doubts when he told us it was okay to come, but I didn't question it too much. We apologize for causing trouble."

"It doesn't appear your contract holder is very nice," Carla observed.

"Lucy is too nice," Natsu argued, glaring a little at the white Exceed. "She has very good reasons for not wanting any other demons here, ones that Happy knows and agreed to."

"Sorry Natsu." Happy still hadn't looked up, obviously upset with Lucy's words.

"Sounds to me like you weren't very nice to her," Wendy said. "If what she said is true, Carla, I'd say Lucy is super nice, since she hasn't sent him back before. You've gotten mad at him for less before."

Carla's cheeks pinkened a little as she looked away. "I suppose so."

"Don't worry, Natsu, we can leave," Wendy said with a smile. "We were just going to go trick-or-treating anyways, so this doesn't really mess up our plans or anything."

"How long before you go back?" Natsu asked. "I'd love for you to get to meet Lucy."

"Oh, I'll probably only be here for another couple days. I've almost completed my contract, it wasn't a long one."

"Maybe I can convince her to have you over, how does that sound?"

"I'd like that." Wendy moved forward, smiling as she hugged Natsu around his middle as he bent over to hug her back. "I'll see if my contract holder can spare me for a bit before I have to go back. It's kind of a twenty four seven thing, minus tonight."

"Oh-"

"Hey, you comin' in or what?" Cana's voice carried out the front door. "You're letting all the cold in, or something."

"Actually, they were just stopping by to say hi," Natsu said, pulling back.

"Well aren't you cute," the brunette said as she looked at Wendy, then at the rest of the group. "Why aren't you guys staying?"

"Like Natsu said, we were just stopping by to say hi," Pantherlily said. "We're sorry for interrupting."

Cana hummed she studied the tallest Exceed. "You drink?"

"What?" Lily's eyes widened a bit as she studied him.

"Do you drink, as in alcohol? What kind of tolerance you got?"

"Well, I mean, I do, and I think I can hold it fairly well-"

"You drive here?"

"Well, no-"

"Dibs!" Cana moved around the others and pulled Pantherlily forward by his arm. "Name's Cana. You and I are going to have a drinking contest. Come on, Gajeel's waiting, too." Pantherlily continued to try and argue as Natsu was shoved aside so the other two could pass.

"Gajeel! I found another! Did you convince Gray yet?"

"Should we stop them?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know if we _can_ stop Cana, to be honest." Natsu sighed. "Well, you guys should come in, too. It'd be weird if you left now."

Happy tried to argue. "I don't know-"

"Buddy, the lava's already been spilled, so you might as well come in. Just let me do the talking, okay?"

He led the way as the others followed him into the apartment. Loke and Lucy were still in the kitchen, leaning on either side of the doorway as they watched Gajeel, Cana, Gray and Pantherlily sitting on the floor around the coffee table.

Lucy turned their way, standing with a forced smile. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name's Lucy." She reached over and shook hands with Carla and Wendy. She shook Happy's too, barely squeezing his hand.

"My name's Wendy, and this is Carla and Happy."

"Why hello there," Loke said, charm oozing from his smile. He reached out and kissed both Carla and Wendy's hands as he introduced himself. "How do you two know Natsu?"

"I'm actually Wendy's-"

"Carla and Happy are my friends," Wendy interrupted her friend before smiling up at Natsu. "I actually know Natsu from a really long time ago."

Natsu smiled back. "Yeah, Wendy is actually kind of a sister to me."

Lucy blinked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. There was a stretch way back that my parents…" Natsu paused, trying to figure out the correct terms to explain what Wendy was to him. "My parents fostered her for a while, when she was younger. It was during one of our longer stretches of staying still and her parents were, uh, unavailable for a while, so she stayed with us."

Lucy immediately felt terrible at Natsu's words. The way he spoke made her think that this girl was actually some sort of pseudo-sister to him, and she had basically told him to come up with a good reason to get rid of her. He probably missed seeing her. Who was she to make the girl leave when it might be the last time they saw each other for the next year?

"It's really nice to meet you," Lucy said, hoping the blue haired girl could read the apology in her words.

"It's really nice to meet you, too," Wendy said, her smile almost as bright as Natsu's.

"Yeah, apparently Wendy's in the area for a class trip and they were just going to go trick-or-treating tonight. They apparently saw me when I was out earlier and wanted to surprise me by stopping by and saying hi. Sorry they crashed the party."

"There's no need to apologize, it's a party after all!" Loke laughed. "I'd avoid the punch bowl, though. I think the only things not spiked in here are the cans of pop."

"Thank you for letting us know," Carla said.

Happy continued to remain quiet, causing Lucy to feel a little bad, but before she could address him, there was a commotion behind her.

"You can't just _quit_," Cana said.

"Why not? I'm not looking to get drunk tonight. I agreed to participate for a few rounds, that's it." Gray was trying to stand up, but Cana refused to let go of his arm.

"Actually, if he's-"

"You. _Sit._" Cana hissed at Pantherlily as he tried to stand. The Exceed sighed as he crossed his arms. Gajeel leaned his way to whisper to him as Cana continued to fight with Gray, who now had Juvia on his other arm, trying to pull him away from the table.

Juvia spoke up. "Cana, you have two other opponents. Why not just let Gray go?"

"This is a drinking contest and he's not even tipsy yet. He can't just bail!"

"Actually, he can," Lucy cut in. "My house, my rules, Alberona. Deal with it."

Cana gaped at her, then stuck out her lower lip. "Why are you betraying me, Lucy? Aren't I a good friend to you? You said I could have a drinking contest."

"And you can, but only with people who agree to join you."

"He did agree!"

"And now he doesn't want to anymore. They can tap out whenever they want."

Gray finished standing up, stumbling a little since Juvia was still pulling on him. He steadied himself as he thanked her. Juvia blushed as she let go of his arm, but she did not move away.

"Come on, Cana, where's the next round," Gajeel groused. "Me and my new friend are waitin'!"

"Friend?" Pantherlily asked, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, uh…" Gajeel pointed at the other man. "You."

Levy laughed out loud from where she watched. "Did you not even bother to ask him his name?!"

Gajeel glared at the woman, his eyes widening slightly as he seemed to notice her outfit for the first time. "Quiet, woman."

"You can call me Lily," the Exceed introduced himself. "I prefer to be known by my last name."

"Gajeel." The pierced man shook his hand before turning to Cana again. "So? Where's the next one? Serve it up!"

Cana grinned as she pulled a new bottle out from under the table. Lucy groaned as she saw what it was. "Cana, do you have to do that already? I wasn't a fan of you starting this so early, and those doubts are quickly increasing with your choice of liquor."

"What's wrong, Lucy, you scared of a little tequila?"

Levy and Juvia both groaned out loud with Lucy. Cana had varying stages of drunk, but tequila drunk was the worst. Lucy sighed as the shots were poured.

Loke spoke up. "Are you sure you want to do tequila so soon? You should give the new guys a chance."

"Does the choice of liquor _really_ affect their chances?" she asked with a laugh. "Get over her Loke, join us for a few."

Loke's grin widened as he stepped forward. "Alright, I guess you've pulled my leg hard enough."

Lucy spoke up. "Now that Natsu is here, you'll have to crash on the couch, Cana, so try not to let anyone throw up on it this time, okay?"

Cana just grinned as she pushed the shot glasses towards her competition.

"This time?" Natsu asked.

Lucy turned towards the kitchen. "How about we just enjoy the food and get a little more acquainted? This won't last long." After leading the other three farther into the kitchen, Natsu finally moved to join them, keeping an eye on the living room.

Thirty minutes later, Cana shouted in victory as she jumped up from her spot on the floor. Both Pantherlily and Gajeel were both laying back on the floor, groaning as they covered their faces. Loke smiled from where he sat, his cheeks flushed, but his body still upright.

"And that," Lucy said with a smile as Cana moved to grab another beer, "is why you don't have a drinking contest with Cana."


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks as always for the love, guys, and happy reading!**

* * *

"I don't undershand," came a groan from under the table. "She's so shkinny. Where's she _put it_?" Levy giggled as she adjusted the hand towel draped over Gajeel's eyes. After dragging himself in to the kitchen for some food, he'd flopped his head onto her lap after sitting next to her.

Cana scoffed. "Rookie."

Loke chuckled, his chin resting against his folded arms. "Don't be so hard on him, Cana, or he might not try again later."

Lucy groaned as she wrung out the hand towel in her hand. "Don't give her any more ideas." She moved to sit next to Loke at her table and helped him prop his chin in one hand. He hummed softly as he held still, allowing her to clean the paint from his face.

Gray and Juvia had only recently left, following an offer from Gray to walk her home. He'd promised to return for Gajeel just as he was pulled swiftly out of Lucy's kitchen by the excited woman, leaving behind a few raised eyebrows. Wendy, Carla and Happy and left shortly after, claiming they'd return in the morning to pick up Lily, who was still passed out in Natsu's room. Despite the state of some of her friends, she decided the party was as much a success as it could be, since three of them had been drunk almost from the start. Cana had finally slowed down, even grabbing a bottle of water to sip on as she sat in one of Lucy's chairs, munching on the remaining snacks.

Lucy smiled to herself as she saw Levy quietly trying to coax Gajeel to sit up and drink some water himself. The woman was also flushed, but hers stemmed more from the proximity of the pierced man laying on her lap than from the few drinks she'd consumed. Lucy thought they were an odd pair, but she'd seen stranger. It had been fun to watch the two interact, especially when Levy surprised the much bigger man by holding her own when he'd poked fun at her, before he'd been completely knocked out by the booze.

"Thansh, Lushy," Loke said as she stood.

"I'm not quite done, give me just a second to rinse this."

"Mmhm," he said, moving his other hand to help hold up his head, eyes still closed.

"Can't you do that yourself?" Cana asked, missing the chip she was trying to pick up twice before grabbing it and sticking it in her mouth.

"Maybe," Loke answered, "but she does it better."

"Oh _really_," Levy said with a smirk.

"You," Lucy said, pointing a dripping hand at Levy, "stop. And you," she pointed at Cana. "You stop, too. It's partially your fault."

"Whatever." Cana finished her water before standing up. "I'm gonna go crash on your couch."

"Wait, I gotta pull it out." Lucy twisted the towel in her hand before setting it aside.

"Why? I don't need that much room."

"Gray is coming back for Gajeel, but Loke can't walk home like he is, so you'll have to split the pull out bed."

"Just don't get too grabby, Lion Boy," Cana called as she followed Lucy into the living room. She grabbed a bag she'd stashed next to the couch to change, finding the couch ready and waiting when she returned from the bathroom.

Lucy returned to the table with the cleaned rag as Cana laid down. "There's some aspirin and water on the table next to you," she called.

"Thanks mom!"

Levy and Lucy chuckled as the blond finished cleaning Loke up. "Alright you. Think you can handle changing?"

Loke grinned at her, his eyes opening slightly. "I don't think so. I think you're going to have to help me."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "If you can still flirt, you can still dress yourself. Come on, I'll help you get to the bathroom." She stood, carefully helping Loke to his feet, and put his arm around her shoulders before leading towards the hallway.

Natsu watched them go, frown in place. He'd watched the party from his seat in the corner of the kitchen, where he'd spent most of the night talking to the other demons. He refused any offer of alcohol, ignoring the jabs from Cana, who hadn't stopped teasing him until Lucy had talked to her. After watching them at the bar, and now this party, Natsu couldn't seem to come up with any good explanation for why humans would consume the awful substance. While it seemed that they enjoyed it for a while, the negative effects from the liquid lasted much longer. Why would they spend half a day in misery over just a couple hours of fun? It didn't make sense to him. Not to mention they all smelled _awful_.

Lucy returned a moment later, yawning as she entered the kitchen. When she moved to start cleaning up the trays on the table, Natsu spoke up. "Do you want help?"

"I can help her," Levy said, trying to stand. A muscled arm shot around her waist, causing her to fall back onto her butt.

"Pillow," Gajeel murmured, barely audible as he pressed his face into her bare thighs.

Lucy smirked at her friend, who only rolled her eyes in response. "Natsu can handle helping me. There's not much to clean up, most of the food was eaten. Gray should be back soon to save you."

Levy huffed, but Natsu noticed her hand had returned to run through Gajeel's hair before he'd picked up the first platter. He brought it over to Lucy, who was putting the leftovers into containers that she stacked up next to the fridge before putting the platters and bowls into the sink. Her eyes were a little droopy and she yawned every so often.

"If you're tired, I can take care of this." Natsu blinked, surprising himself with the offer. _The hells am I doing? I hate doing chores!_

Luckily, Lucy didn't look up right away, so she didn't see the turmoil he was in. "It's okay, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to wash these up. They can sit until then." She gave him a smile. "Thanks for the offer though."

"No problem." They worked in silence for a few more minutes, not missing the telltale noises of Loke throwing himself onto the pull out couch in the living room. Cana cussed a little at him for landing on her arm, but a minute later, the apartment was mostly silent again. As they finished cleaning up the last of the food, there was a knock at the door and Gray let himself in.

Lucy greeted him. "Hey Gray. Gajeel hasn't moved since he got in here. Are you sure you'll be okay getting him home on your own? He's welcome to stay here." Lucy ignored the look she could see Natsu giving her out of the corner of her eye.

Gray waved away her offer. "Yeah, I can get him. We don't know you guys well enough yet to just crash on your couch or floor or," he glanced at Levy, "lap."

"I'd offer you a car, but everyone walked here," Lucy said, sticking the last container in the fridge.

"No worries. Once the fresh air hits him, he'll be okay. Come on, Gajeel." Gray leaned down to grab his band mate's arms, pulling him up into a mostly standing position. "Time to go."

"But _pillow_," Gajeel groaned, hand moving over his face as the small towel fell to the floor.

"Levy is not a pillow," Gray said, pulling one of Gajeel's arms over his shoulders. "Great party by the way, Lucy. See you at the bar on Friday?"

"Probably," Lucy said, moving to open the front door as Gray said goodbye to the others. She took a deep breath as she stood in the cool night, deciding it was past time she took off her costume. Gray and Gajeel came out a moment later, the taller of the two blinking and shaking his head as he breathed in the cleansing air.

After he'd managed to clear his head somewhat, he looked down at Lucy. "You're friend is a demon."

Lucy's entire body stiffened as she stared up at him with wide eyes. Her breath froze in her throat, barely letting her speak. "What?"

"Your friend, Cana," he answered, causing Lucy's entire body to loosen again. "There's no way that woman is human. It's not possible to drink that much alcohol and still be that sober. I demand a rematch later." He hadn't been outside for more than a minute and his words had already cleared up significantly. Lucy wasn't sure there was a soul alive who could outdrink Cana, so she just smiled and shrugged.

"Maybe. Guess we'll just have to see."

After another goodbye and quick wave, Lucy went back inside to see Levy putting some things into her purse. "I think I'm going to head out, Lucy."

"I thought you were going to stay the night?" Lucy asked with a frown.

"I was, but you've already got Cana and Loke on your couch, and Natsu's friend in his room, not to mention Natsu himself. I don't want to burden you anymore."

"Aw, I was looking forward to cuddling with you tonight," Lucy teased with a fake pout.

"Guess we'll just have to wait for the next sleepover."

Lucy couldn't help poking her friend just one more time. "Is it because I'm not tall, tatted, pierced and broody?"

"Ha ha," Levy said without humor, but her cheeks heated, much to Lucy's amusement.

"Well, if you're going home, I'll walk with you. I could use some cool air to clear my head a bit before bed. Plus, I can't let you wander the streets dressed like _that_ all on your own."

Levy stuck her tongue out at her friend. "I look amazing and you know it."

"Which is why I won't let you walk alone. Oh, where is Natsu?"

"He went to check on the guy crashed in his room."

Lucy nodded. She was pretty sure the other demons were probably in there as well. Not wanting to interrupt, she decided she'd just leave a note when she left so he wouldn't worry. "Just let me change really quick and then we can go. I gotta get out of this dress."

A couple minutes later, Lucy returned to the kitchen where Levy was just finishing putting on her boots. Levy stood, looked from Lucy's sweatpants to the tank top she wore with their high school logo to the leather jacket, complete with a pair of fuzzy slippers and low, messy bun. Levy smiled as she threw her bag over her shoulder. "Hot."

"You could still stay," Lucy taunted, opening the front of her jacket a little.

"I think I have to pass."

"Your loss," Lucy said with a smile as she left a quick note on the table for Natsu. "I didn't feel like trying that hard and I want to be warm. Let's go." Lucy tightened the string on her pants as she followed Levy towards the door, grabbing her phone and keys and sticking them in her pockets as they left.

They were halfway to Levy's place before they finally broke the silence.

"It's beautiful out tonight," Levy said looking up. Lucy had spent most of their trip staring up at the sky, struggling to find the constellations her mother had taught her through the lights of the city. While she loved her home, she sometimes thought she should move out to the country where it was darker at night so she could really enjoy the sky.

"It would be better if it wasn't so damn bright."

Levy chuckled. "I wasn't just talking about the sky, Lu. The weather is nice, for October that is, and there are no clouds, so you can at least see some of the stars."

"That's true, I suppose."

Levy glanced at her friend as she continued to look mostly up. "So…"

"So what?" Lucy asked when her friend didn't continue.

"What's going on with Natsu?"

Lucy finally looked away as she found Aquarius, confused as she studied Levy's expression. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Lu, you know what I mean. Is there anything going on with you two yet?"

"What do you mean, yet? Nothing's going to go on with us ever. He's just a friend."

"He's awfully protective for a friend," Levy murmured loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"I'm a girl and his friend. Aren't a lot of guys kind of protective of their female friends around other dudes? Seems pretty natural to me."

"Come off it, Lu, I saw how he was with that older guy at the bar the night we met Gajeel."

Lucy swallowed, trying to ignore the lump in her throat. "I admit he sometimes goes a little overboard, but that doesn't mean anything." Stupid half-dragon nonsense…

"If you say so," Levy sang as she pulled out her keys. "Thanks for walking me home. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I gotta stop by the library tomorrow after work, so I'll probably see you then.

"Wait, you're going to work tomorrow?"

"Just for a half day. I offered to make breakfast for whoever stays the night, so I won't be going in until around 10."

"That's when I start tomorrow, too. Mind if I swing by for breakfast?"

"Sure," Lucy said, slowly walking backwards down the sidewalk. "I'll have breakfast ready around nine, sound good?"

"Absolutely. If you're taking requests, I want waffles."

Lucy gave her a mock salute. "You got it, boss," she said with a final wave before turning to head back to her place. Once again, she spent most of her time staring up at the stars, searching for and only finding about half the constellations she wanted to. She sighed as she passed by a particularly dark alley. Taking the opportunity, she ducked into the space, noticing the stars were slightly easier to see without the lights distracting her.

Lucy looked where she was going a little more often, since there were boxes and other things scattered around the tight space, but she still made an effort to enjoy the view above. As she turned down the final alley, her home barely a block away, she bumped into something.

Or someone, she realized, as she heard a grunt. Catching herself before she fell, she looked up at the tall silhouette in front of her. For a brief moment, she thought Natsu had followed her, but then she realized the hair was wrong. It was pale, maybe blond or white, on the bottom, and black on top. His lips and eyes were covered in dark makeup, and as her eyes adjusted to the dark enough to see his face, his expression made goosebumps spread out across her skin.

She stepped back, hands held up in front of her. "Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Interesting place you've decided to walk," the man commented, his voice causing more shivers to dance across her skin.

"It was just a short cut. I take it all the time and there's not usually anyone around, so I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have."

He smirked, his arm snapping out to grab her wrist before she could move out of his reach. "Well, since we're already here, and it did kind of hurt when you ran into me, perhaps you could apologize to me properly?" As he leaned over her, for the second time that day, she felt her mind mixing dark memories into what was happening in front of her. Only this time it wasn't Natsu, who would give her the space she needed.

The shadows collided in front of her, morphing the person holding onto her arm into someone else. She saw the hair darken, the eyes fill with a murderous intent so strong she could almost feel the blood he wanted to draw flowing over her skin.

"Please," she whispered. "Please, just let me go home." It was the same thing she'd said back then, back when her father had messed up so badly.

The man in front of her cocked his head as his grin widened. Even though the voice was wrong, it still managed to scare her into submission. "Soon, gorgeous. First I need to make sure you'll watch where you're going next time. Like I said, I think you owe me a better apology."

She was suddenly yanked against his chest, her breath forced from her lungs as terror took its place, filling her entire body from her toes to the tip of her head. Her limbs were frozen against her body, unable to move as he used his body to corral her between him, a dumpster and a wall.

_Move_, she thought. _Damn it, move your body. Don't just stand there!_ But the fear was too great. She knew she wasn't back _there_, but she just couldn't shake the feelings coursing through her body, numbing her to what was happening as hands moved roughly under her shirt to grab onto her skin.

She hung her head, tears beginning to stream down her face as the darkness crept through and over the one last thought.

_Natsu_…

* * *

**Cliffhangers. I love them.**

**Also, the fake lesbian moments with friends is a favorite of mine. After the flashback in the anime where Lucy and Levy meet, I've always thought they'd be the type of friends who would do that. And friends that you can be that comfortable with are THE BEST.**

**Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Luckily for you guys, my cliffhangers bother me almost as much as they bother you, so I couldn't wait to get this next part written up and shared.**

**I just finished up my Soul Eater story, so if anyone is interested, that one is complete!**

**I mentioned in my note on that story's last entry that there is a FT AU story that has been bothering me something fierce at night when I'm trying to fall asleep, so there's a chance I may start working on it soon. It would mean for a while the updates for this story would slow down, but the rough outline I've got in my head for the other one is much smaller than this one is likely to be, so after it's done, my focus would go back to this one. For the time being, it's just an itch, I just have to figure out if I want to commit to scratching it now or wait.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

As he ducked into the hallway, Natsu double checked that Levy hadn't followed him and that the two people on the couch were out before allowing his body to shrink back down into his human form. After running a hand through his hair to fix it, he quietly entered his room, unsurprised to find it filled with demons.

Lily, in his smaller form, had fallen asleep on one of Natsu's pillows, a softly snoring Wendy curled up next to him. Carla and Happy were also in their smaller forms, sitting quietly together at the foot of the bed. Their whispering cut off when he entered the room, a sad look on both of their faces.

"Happy was just telling me about some of the places you guys had planned on going while you were here," Carla said.

"I'm really sorry I messed up so bad," Happy said as tears welled up in his eyes.

Natsu sighed as he moved to sit next to them near the bed. "It's not me you need to apologize to, Happy. I have no control over you staying here, and I'm not the one you disobeyed. I'm disappointed, but it's Lucy that really deserves your apologies."

"I know, I'm going to talk to her in the morning. I won't fight her sending me back. I know it was my fault, I'm the one who messed up."

Carla sighed. "I don't know why you tried so hard to get under her skin. She seems like she's okay, for a human."

"Even Wendy likes her, and that was after seeing Angry Lucy in action." Natsu adjusted the scarf around his neck as he glanced at the sleeping demon.

"Wendy likes everyone," Carla pointed out. "That child is too trusting."

"That's true, but Scary Lucy is almost as intimidating as Erza, so the fact that any of you seem to like her after that first impression is just proof of how nice Lucy really is."

Natsu smiled as the Exceeds spoke to each other again, feeling for the bond he shared with the blond. He tried for a while but didn't sense her, which meant that she wasn't feeling anything strongly. He sometimes wished there was more to the bond; that he could feel her emotions all the time. She could get so excited about things, so passionate, that he wanted to be able to share in those feelings. It had been a very long time since he'd been so enthusiastic about something. Since before Igneel passed…

Suddenly, he felt a faint spark coming from Lucy. If he hadn't been trying so hard to feel her, he probably wouldn't have even noticed. A peaceful feeling filled him from the top of his head down to his toes, his breath coming out slow and even. Everything inside of him quieted for a moment, leaving him feeling more serene than he ever had. A moment later, the feeling stopped. It disappeared like a bubble being popped, leaving him a little disoriented but still happy. He smiled as he turned back to Happy and Carla, wondering what Lucy could have been doing to have those feelings.

Carla had watched Natsu as he zoned out, so she noticed when he seemed to come back to himself. "I apologize for the intrusion," she whispered as she gestured at Wendy. "The job she is currently on leaves no time for sleep, so she is in desperate need of a nap."

Natsu shrugged. "It's okay. I don't mind sha-"

_**Fear. **_

_Debilitating, body numbing __**fear**__._

Natsu's breath left him in a rush as he shot to his feet. Happy's eyes widened as he moved to hover near Natsu's head. "What is it? Is it Lucy?"

Natsu barely remembered to not slam the door as he rushed from the room to the kitchen. Finding no one, he moved to her room, finding that empty as well. He returned to the kitchen, finally noticing the note left on the table.

_Hey Natsu,_

_Levy's being a spoil sport, so I'm going to walk her home. I was going to let you know, but I don't want to impose on your time with your friends anymore than I already have. Levy's place isn't far, I'll be back soon._

_Lucy _

Natsu quietly cursed as he ran back to his room, closing the door swiftly behind him. "Happy, Carla, I need your help. Come with me up to the roof." The Exceeds nodded, following Natsu as he sprung out his open window. The three landed together on top of the roof, Natsu immediately moving towards the front to stand over the door. He took a deep breath, working to find her smell among the others permeating the city air. It was faint, but it was there.

He didn't move a muscle, didn't blink, didn't even breathe as he waited. The feeling he'd gotten from Lucy earlier, when he'd spoke to her in the hallway, had only been a _fraction_ as strong as what he felt now. His fists clenched, the only part of him that moved as his eyes continued to focus on nothing in front of him. "Come on, Luce, I can feel your fear," he whispered, completely forgetting that anyone was around him. Even though she couldn't hear him, he willed her to anyway, desperately waiting. "Come on, Luce, summon me. I can help you, just _summon me._"

Carla floated right next to Happy. "What can we do to help?"

Natsu didn't respond as he focused on his breathing. He felt for the magic that always burned just beneath his skin, willing it into his hands. Concentrating on Lucy's smell, he cast a tracker spell, the magic quickly leaving his fingertips. He targeted the spell at the front of her building, waiting for it to find the trail that led from the building.

Happy spoke up, interrupting him with a whisper. "Carla and I are going to go out and look. Maybe we can find something." Natsu merely nodded as he focused on the spell again. It was always harder for him to use his magic on spells that weren't for fighting. Even the healing magic he'd used on Lucy had drained him more than he'd ever admit. The only reason he'd been able to do it at all was due to Wendy teaching him. The tracking spell he was trying to use was another useful spell she'd offered to teach him. He'd never had a problem tracking with his nose, though, so he hadn't practiced it as much as he should have.

Finally, he felt his magic start to move, flying down the street, turning sharply at the first corner to continue down the sidewalk. It made a few more turns before it stopped, seeming to vibrate slightly before it retreated the way it had come. It was most of the way back before it suddenly turned off down a different direction. Natsu's eyes flew open just as his spell found Lucy. In the same instance, Happy and Carla returned.

"Natsu, we found her," Happy cried, "but it's bad! She found one of those nightmare demons!"

Natsu growled, immediately changing his form back to the his demonic one as he lifted off to follow Happy. Just before he dropped into the alley, he told the Exceeds to stay out of the way. He dropped down into the darkness where his spell had ended, landing hard. Dirt and rubble flew in every direction as he drew himself up to his full height.

He could both feel and smell Lucy's fear as it permeated the air around him. It only took him a moment to find where she had collapsed. A demon, not quite as tall as he was, turned his way, having dropped the blonde as Natsu landed.

"Well if it isn't the _Salamander_," purred the voice. "To what do I owe this visit?"

As Natsu finally saw the demon's face, his scowl deepened. "Midnight, how the hell did you get into this world? Nightmare demons have been banned from making contracts for decades."

Midnight raised an eyebrow at him. "There's more than one way to enter this world, and I was hungry." He glanced down at Lucy where she was shivering, arms hiding her face as her hands covered her ears. "I'd forgotten how much more potent humans' dreams and memories are on this side of the barrier. This one in particular is quite tasty. Her nightmares will surely keep me fed for a long, _long_ time."

Natsu took a step, but Midnight was surprisingly quick as he pulled the blond up by the hair. He pushed her against the wall again, a hand swirling with black, menacing energy wrapped around her neck as the other one landed on her exposed hip to hold her still. Her eyes were shut tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she struggled to breathe.

"Ah ah ah, Salamander. If you're here, I'm going to guess that this belongs to you." Midnight tugged up Lucy's shirt to reveal the mark on her side. "It's a shame, but I'd wager a guess that you and I won't be able to come to any sort of agreement that will make us both happy, so I'm afraid that I'll be sending you back now. You see," he said, dark shapes forming the darkness around him. "It's been a _very_ long time since I had a good meal. I have no doubt that once I'm forced back home I will be in trouble, but with a few good meals, I'll be fed for a long time to come, and that will be worth whatever punishment you _higher up_," he spat with disgust, "demons can dish out for me."

Momentarily ignoring the threat to Lucy's life, Natsu scoffed. "You know that as a half-demon, I'm not even close to being considered part of the higher up races."

Midnight's frown deepened, his sneer dominating his face as he spat, "And yet, you are. The fact that a _half-breed_, could be considered a higher life form than any full blood demon is a disgrace to all demons. Before long, my kind will show those in charge that we can not be treated like the trash _you_ are."

Natsu took a deep breath as he focused on Lucy. As his contract holder, it was his responsibility to keep her alive. Even if their rules stated that it wasn't a demon's responsibility to protect their master, it was damn hard to continue a contract with a dead person. Not to mention the fact that Lucy was a good person and didn't deserve to be used as food for a demon such as Midnight, no matter what dark memories she may possessed.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had an ace up his sleeve, and he felt the tension in his shoulders ease. He decided to give negotiating one more shot. He had heard stories about how hard it was on Midnight's race to feed after a particularly rowdy group had gotten too caught up in causing trouble in the humans' realm. The offending parties had been taken care of, and in an effort to make sure it didn't happen again, the entire race had been punished. Natsu didn't feel that had been necessary, even if the nightmare demons could be particularly cruel.

"Midnight, it's been a long time since you landed in the lowest level of our world. A lot had changed, and for your sake, I'd let my master go if you value your life. Is any meal _really_ worth your life?"

"As far as nightmares go, I would say this one is definitely last meal worthy, but do you honestly think you can get to me before I kill this pretty little master of yours?"

Natsu sighed. "I tried to warn you." He crossed his arms as he sent out a summons with his magic. "Erza eats troublemakers like you for breakfast."

Before Midnight could respond, he was suddenly yanked back and thrown into the building behind him. In an instant, Natsu was in his place, catching Lucy before she could hit the ground. Behind him, he could feel the heat coming off an enraged, growling Erza. He carefully picked up Lucy before getting out of the way.

Erza held out her free hand, a large sword that matched the black armor she wore appearing in an instant. "Punishment awaits you, scoundrel. If you do not fight back, I may spare your life."

Midnight smiled at her words. "You'll have to catch me first." Suddenly, his form faded, and then he sank into the building behind him.

"I'll take care of this," Erza growled quietly as her armor flashed again to one with wings and she took off into the sky.

Natsu let out a breath as he shook off the residual fear that always accompanied an appearance from Titania. Lucy was still shaking in his grasp. As his focus adjusted, her fear washed over him again, knocking the breath out of him. He moved to sit on a box, helping her remain upright even as she continued to fold in on herself. Midnight's influence had obviously not worn off yet, so Natsu rubbed his hand in large circles on her back as he whispered to her.

"Luce, it's okay, I've got you. You're okay now, he's gone. I'm here, there's nothing to worry about now. You're okay. I'm here." He ran his other hand up and down her arm, feeling the chill that radiated from her, even through the leather of her coat. He considered carrying her home, but decided against moving her until he could get her to come out of whatever dream or vision held her so tightly in its grip. In a move that he would not analyze until much later, he pulled off his most beloved possession and wrapped the scarf around her neck, leaving much of the material to hang over her torso. In an effort to distract her, he started to talk to her.

"Did you know that I've only ever taken that scarf off once since Igneel gave it to me? Not that I can't go without wearing it, I can for a few hours, but I just don't ever want to. It's made from his scales, have I ever told you that? Those are genuine dragon scales. He passed away a few years ago. It's been hard without him, but wearing that scarf makes me feel like he's always there. All I have to do is touch it, and it's like he never even left."

Lucy's shivering stopped as she listened to Natsu talk, surprised by the topic he'd chosen. As though they had a mind of their own, her hands moved under the cloak Natsu wore to the heat underneath. She focused all her energy on stuffing down the memories the other demon had resurrected. Natsu's voice and the heat coming from him and the scarf around her neck slowly pushed away the darkness trying to pull her back down.

She refused to open her eyes as he held her against him, instead burying her head into his chest. The movement made Natsu pause, but he continued to talk to her, telling her that Happy and Carla had helped him find her, that Erza was nearby taking care of the problem… reassuring her that she was safe.

Lucy risked opening an eye. When she saw the alley around her, she closed her eye again quickly. "Can… can you carry me home? I don't want to be here anymore."

"Absolutely," he said, standing up. He adjusted her weight slightly before starting to walk. Above him, his companions silently floated. He nodded towards Lucy's building, letting them know they could return.

Lucy turned her head, pressing her ear against Natsu's chest so she could listen to his heartbeat as he walked. The steady beat under her ear helped immensely, and by the time she heard Natsu say they were back, she just about had her emotions back under control.

She pulled back to thank Natsu, but the words died in her throat. He had stopped in front of the stairs leading to her building, the light on the street behind him casting a shadow across his face and body. Fear immediately rose back up before Lucy could shake it.

Natsu cursed quietly, immediately forcing himself to change back to his human form as he apologized. "I'm sorry, Lucy, I should have changed back sooner."

Lucy struggled to find her voice as his horns and scales disappeared. "N-no, no, i-it's o-okay. I sh-"

Just before Natsu finished transforming, the door in front of them slammed open, revealing a disheveled, frantic looking Loke. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

**Tehe. I feel evil.**

**So I've read a lot of different stories with magic and played a lot of D&D (nerd alert) and other games with magic. There's always a theme to the type of magic a person can use, except for wizards, generally, and I find that extremely boring. I prefer to write about magic users that can use their magic to do whatever they want, they just have to learn how to manipulate it correctly. So if it seems weird that Nastu is using his doing all sorts of things, that's on purpose. If anyone ever has questions about how something in my world works, you only have to ask, and I can shoot out a response, whether in PM or even in the A/N of the next story. I'll always do my best to make sure things get explained.**

**Until next time!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm a failure guys… I forgot that my version of Natsu can fly on his own. I have gone back and fixed the parts where Happy helped him in the last chapter, but I feel dumb for forgetting in the first place. As an apology for my oversight, here's a quicker update than usual!**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Natsu froze, unsure of what to do. He felt Lucy stiffen in his arms as her breath audibly left her. He had been pretty sure that Loke had passed out before he went to his room. Had one of the Exceeds woken him up? Had he made too much noise while he was looking for Lucy? What had Loke seen?

"Seriously guys," Loke said. "What's going on? A door slam woke me up and I found Natsu's kind-of-sister and a cat passed out on his bed, but no sign of you guys. And where's Levy? How long have I been passed out for?"

_Thank every god and star in the sky, he didn't see anything_. Lucy's relief was palpable, as she fought to keep her face composed.

Natsu felt Lucy's body loosen in his grip as she whispered, "You can put me down." He set her on her feet, keeping one hand on her back so he was ready to catch her if she fell again. Her emotional turmoil was starting to bother him. She was feeling so much at that moment, he wasn't sure how to sort through it all. Suddenly, the torrent of emotions cleared and all he felt was calm, cold nothingness.

"You weren't out long, Loke, calm down," Lucy reassured him, her soft tone at odds with her emotions. "Wendy came back because she wanted to stay here with Natsu before she has to leave Magnolia again. After she fell asleep, Levy decided she wanted to go home since there are so many other people staying here, so Natsu and I walked her back. We took a shortcut on the way back and I twisted my ankle. Natsu was just trying to help since I was having trouble walking."

"What about the cat? And where's the rest of your costume?" Loke directed his second question at Natsu.

The demon answered both, lying just as smoothly as Lucy. "Panther is Wendy's cat. She apparently snuck him along for the trip, so she brought him here so he could stretch out his legs without getting in trouble."

"Plue hasn't been bothered by him being here, so I didn't mind them both staying," Lucy added.

"As for my costume, Lucy and Levy wanted to get Levy home, so I decided to wait to finish cleaning up until we got back." Natsu really hoped that Loke was drunk enough to not notice the difference in the size of his wings. The exposed scales and horns were one thing, but he'd have a hard time explaining why his wings were so much smaller than they used to be. Luckily, his height was exactly where it should be.

Loke studied him for a moment, his eyes flashing with a clarity that made Natsu uneasy, before fogging over again. "Huh. Okay. Lucy, you got any aspirin? I think I need some before I lay down again."

"Sure, I'll get you some." Lucy took a couple steps before remembering that she needed to limp. Loke didn't seem to notice as he turned back to enter her apartment, Lucy and Natsu following close behind him.

Ten minutes later, after Loke had returned to his spot next to Cana, Lucy headed to her room, surprised to find Natsu leaning against her door jam. "I'm sorry about that," he whispered as she passed him to enter her room.

"About what?" she asked.

"I didn't make sure my door was closed all the way. Between my open window and the one we opened in the kitchen, there must have been a breeze strong enough to blow the door open. I'm sorry you had to come up with another lie tonight."

Lucy sighed. "I'm starting to think that I'll just have to resign myself to it until you guys leave." She perked up as she continued. "It's okay, though. You were only trying to help."

When she looked up, a shiver went down her spine as she saw him watching her intensely. "Luce, I won't press you to tell me what happened, or ask what you saw, even though I really want to know." He didn't react as she flinched and glanced away. "I do, however, want to know why you didn't summon me. Demons like Midnight mess with a person's mind, but are physically very weak. When I got there, your shirt was-" Natsu cut himself off, not wishing to remind her of the way Midnight had been manhandling her. "Your tag was exposed. All you had to do was touch it and reach out to me. I could have been there in an instant, so why didn't you call for me?"

Lucy swallowed as she fought her tears. "I… I forgot I was in the alley. I didn't know I was in danger until I was… until I wasn't there anymore."

Natsu sighed. He wished he understood better, but he'd never been prey to the nightmare demons. They steered clear of beings like him, demons that were so much stronger physically than they were. They would pull pranks on other demons, but never on the ones they couldn't get away from. Since they'd never tried to mess with him, he had no experience with how strong their magic was. He only knew that they created nightmares or brought up painful memories in other beings, usually humans, and consumed the negative emotions that were created by them.

"And anyway, it's not like you were the one that saved me. Erza was the one who pulled him off me. You told me so."

Natsu scoffed. "If you had summoned me, I would have had the element of surprise so I could take him out. As it was, he was threatening your life, and I couldn't risk him infecting you with his magic before I could reach him. If it had been a test of strength or speed, I could have easily taken care of him, but his magic would have stopped your heart before I could take a step.

"Plus, he was breaking several laws by being here, which is Erza's area of expertise. Demons aren't supposed to fight with each other in this world because of the potential collateral damage. By letting Erza take care of him, I got to stay out of trouble, _and_ earn brownie points with her at the same time. So I had three very good reasons for calling her in."

"Staying out of trouble and earning brownie points with Erza are only two reasons," she corrected him.

"You forgot the most important reason," he said with a smile. "It saved your life."

She nodded, trying to smile. "I suppose that is true." Exhaustion began to weigh heavily on her as she glanced at her alarm. "I have to get up in a few hours. I think I'd like to go to sleep."

"You got it!" Natsu's cheerful smile was back, completely erasing the shadow that had been hanging over his face since he'd found her in the alley. "I'll just be in my room if you need anything. Good night, Lucy!"

"Good night," she responded as he left, closing the door behind him. She heard him jiggle it a little to make sure it was shut before walking away. As she sat on the end of her bed, she focused on the breath moving in and out of her lungs, willing away the memories that threatened her from the edge of her vision. She expected the cold to return, as it always did when her past threatened to drown her, but this time she remained warm.

She stood, frowning as she moved to take off her slippers, surprised they hadn't fallen from her feet at some point. As she started to pull off her jacket, her hands encountered Natsu's scarf where he had wrapped it around her neck. She paused, surprised, before she wondered if she should bring it back to him. She knew it was important to him, and that it did something to help him with his magic, or was it something about his dragon heritage? Damn it, she couldn't remember.

Lucy brought the fabric up to her nose, breathing deeply. The smell of bonfires filled her nose, relaxing her muscles as she laid down on her bed. Slowly, she felt her muscles relax and the visions recede as her eyelids drooped. Maybe she could keep it, she decided, just until morning. He had said he could go without it for a while, and if he really needed it, he could come ask for it, right?

Smiling, Lucy reached over to turn off her lamp before snuggling into her blankets. She pulled the ends of the scarf under the covers to help warm up the space, leaving some of the material pressed against her nose. Even though she usually couldn't stand to sleep breathing in warm air, the smell of Natsu's scarf outweighed that discomfort and she was quickly fell asleep.

In her dreams, she flew with dragons high in the sky, over towns and fields and clouds. She saw many, but only flew with one, a great hulking beast with red scales and a scarred face. With the wind in her hair, and his scales under her palms, she flew, comfortable with this strange beast she had only just met.

As they flew, they laughed together, the freedom of soaring through the sky a drug that fueled their happiness. Every time he laughed, she felt the sound vibrate through her body into her soul, and she felt safe, safer than she had in what felt like forever. Lucy never looked back, instead enjoying the feeling of the dragon flying her farther and farther from the dark clouds that always followed behind.

For a short time, a short, glorious, carefree time, she finally felt wholly at peace.

* * *

Natsu heard when the first person woke up. Listening hard, he figured out it was coming from the living room. The light steps that moved his way had to be Cana, and once he was certain she would not enter his room by mistake, he returned to his research as he itched at the skin on his arm.

A minute later, he heard the toilet flush. The noise was apparently enough to wake Wendy, as she suddenly shot up in Natsu's bed. Her eyes were wide as she looked around the room until she finally met Natsu's gaze. "Mornin.'"

"Good morning," she said, clearing her throat as she glanced around the room. "Sorry that we crashed here last night. I hadn't planned on falling asleep."

"Nah, it's okay. I think you needed it," Natsu responded, his hand moving to rub at his calf. "You apparently slept through my door banging open. I don't remember you being such a deep sleeper."

Wendy frowned. "I'm usually not."

"Carla did mention that your contract is a twenty four-seven thing. Is your contract holder not letting you sleep?"

Wendy avoided looking at Natsu as she answered. "I may have mentioned that demons don't need as much sleep."

Natsu glowered, intending to reprimand her, but before he could, he remembered he'd done the exact same thing with Lucy. Reigning in the urge to growl, he instead exhaled his frustration in a long sigh. "Carla is right. You are way too trusting." He smiled as he reached over to rub the top of her head, his other hand rubbing his knee.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be okay now though. It won't be more than a few days, a week tops, before my contract is over." Natsu closed Lucy's laptop as he turned to face Wendy, chatting with her as the sun continued to rise and brighten the sky outside. Every so often, he'd itch or rub at the tingle growing under his skin.

Both demons paused when they heard an alarm going off, followed by soft smacking noises, and then a long groan as the beeping finally stopped. "I guess Lucy is awake." He glanced over at Carla and Happy, who were still sleeping next to the pillow where Pantherlily slept. "Carla and Happy will have to stay in here, but Lily will have to join us for breakfast to help keep up the charade for Lucy's sake."

"I'm sorry again for the trouble we caused."

"Stop apologizing," Natsu said, rubbing his neck. "You know it wasn't your fault."

Wendy studied him as he continued to rub and itch at his skin. She saw the little twitches that popped up just before he'd chase them away. "Are you okay Natsu?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just need to-"

There was a knock at his door. "Natsu? Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he answered Lucy. "Come on in."

There was a brief conversation between Lucy and one of the people in the living room before she came in. "Good morning," she said, smile slipping just a little when she saw how many people were in the room.

Natsu gave her a wide smile. "Mornin' Luce."

"Good morning, Lucy," Wendy said. "It sounds like we may have made things worse for you sleeping here. I'm really, really sorry for the trouble we caused."

Lucy's smile widened again. "It's okay, Wendy. I'm glad you and Natsu were able to spend time with each other while you're here. I was just going to make breakfast. Would you and Lily like to join us?"

"I won't say no to food," the black Exceed said from where he was curled up, finally waking up.

"I wouldn't mind eating before I leave," Wendy said. "Would you like some help?"

"Oh no, I can handle breakfast. I can get a little weird when people try to help me cook, so it's easier to just do it myself. I can make enough for everyone, but I'm afraid Carla and Happy will have to stay back here until I can bring them some later. As far as my friends know, only you and Lily are in here with Natsu."

Carla, who had finally woken as well, yawned. "We understand. We can remain in here until it is safe to leave." Happy, curled up at her side, didn't move, seeming to still be asleep.

Natsu stood, stretching before itching at his side. "What are you making?"

"Pancakes, eggs, and bacon."

Natsu's mouth began to water, his right hand moving to scratch his other shoulder. "That sounds amazing."

Lucy laughed. "You think all food sounds amazing. Oh, I almost forgot." She pulled out a bundle from under her arm. She separated a ball of white from the purple sweatshirt she also carried. "I thought you might want this back sooner than later. I don't know if you forgot to take it back before bed or if you let me keep it on purpose, but I appreciate it. I slept much better than usual." As Natsu wrapped it around his neck, she turned to open the door, not looking at the others. "Food will be ready in half an hour or so, so be ready."

Natsu quickly changed his clothes, only glancing at his companions as he reached the door. "I'm gonna go keep her company. See you in a bit Wendy and Lily."

The door closed, leaving a suffocating silence behind him. Carla and Lily looked surprised, even more so after seeing the looks on Wendy's and the now awake Happy's faces.

Happy whispered, "Did she…?"

Wendy's eyes were as wide as his when she met his gaze. "Did he…?"

"Did they what?" Carla asked.

"Natsu doesn't take off his scarf, _ever_. It's his most prized possession. He's never even let _me_ hold it," Happy said, "and he trusts me more than anyone!"

"He's always said the only reason he'd take it off was if he was dead," Wendy added. "And even then, he'd come back to haunt whoever killed him, _and_ whoever took it. He doesn't even let people touch it while he's wearing it!"

"So, what does that mean?" Lily asked.

Both Wendy and Happy stared at the door, confusion and surprise written on their faces. It was so out of character for Natsu to allow someone to hold onto his scarf. Not only did he love that scarf because it was a gift from his father, but it helped him to keep the worst of his demon traits under control. Happy knew how much Natsu hated the darker parts of himself. He'd never met his mother, but he'd known his father. Igneel has raised him to be the best version of himself that he could be, and any time his demon side overcame the dragon one, he felt like he'd let Igneel down somehow. Happy couldn't come up with a good reason that Natsu would let a human, no matter how nice, borrow his scarf. Unless…

When the silence was finally broken, it was by Happy's quiet whisper. "I don't know…"


	15. Chapter 15

**So, for this AU, I've made Cana Lucy's #1 BFF. I know Levy is usually the one who's chosen for that role, and while Levy, Lucy, Cana and Juvia are all best friends, I've chosen to make Cana Lucy's closest out of the three. Since they've been best friends for years, and grew up together, Lucy will do things that seem OOC for the real character, but since she grew up with Cana in this one, and has been close for years, so I think she wore off on Lucy a bit, which will only make things more fun in the future.**

**I apologize that it's been a while since my last update. My other FT story, Forgotten, has been bothering me a bit. Even though it was 'finished,' it started bugging me the way I ended it, so I went back and wrote a better ending. It is now officially done, twenty pages later… **

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy waved at Wendy and Lily as they began to walk away from the apartment. After she shut the door, she put on her shoes and hooked her purse over her shoulder. Natsu was sitting at the kitchen table, eating the last of the food from breakfast.

"Remember, I'll be home a little late today. I'm stopping by the library after work."

"I'll be here," he responded through a mouthful of eggs.

Lucy sighed as she glanced around the kitchen. Plue sat in his seat next to the window, sunning himself in the morning light. Her friends had slept longer than she anticipated, so she hadn't been able to clean up the dishes. The pile on the oven, as well as the full sink bothered her, but she couldn't take care of it if she wanted to get to work on time. Past Lucy had made a mistake by not taking the whole day off, but Present Lucy could deal with it. It was only four hours after all.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say sorry, about what happened."

Natsu cocked his head at her, but his eyes lit up a second later. "Oh, that. Don't apologize. Happy made his choices on his own. You gave him fair warning, I don't blame you."

"I know, but I still-"

"Luce, don't worry about it," he said again. "Just enjoy your day, okay? I'll make supper tonight. It's getting cold outside, so I wanna try to make some homemade chili. Do you have a crockpot? I read that it tastes better if it's given more time to cook."

"Yeah, it's in here." Lucy moved to open one of the lower cupboards. "Actually, I have two. If you want, you could make two batches, then you could make one as hot as you want for yourself."

"Luce, that's a great idea!" He quickly scooped the remainder of his food in his mouth. "I gotta go to the store!"

She laughed as he skirted around her to put on his shoes. He could get so excited about things. It was nice having someone so happy in her apartment. She could feel his energy vibrating in the small entryway as she scooted past him to head out her door. "Don't forget to lock up behind you," she said as she left.

He followed her quickly, turning to do just that. "I'll see you later, Luce! Have a good day!"

She turned to walk backwards a few steps as she waved to him. "You too, Natsu!" As she turned back around, her smile grew as she made her way to work. As she passed the bakery, she wondered what she could grab that would be a good dessert to go with chili. Honestly, she didn't think there was a bad choice. Perhaps she could see if they made cornbread? That would taste wonderful with chili, and she was fairly certain Natsu wouldn't make any. Maybe she could ask him.

Her steps fumbled a little as she realized she had no way to do that. Sure, she had the summoning tag, but that felt like an 'in emergency only' kind of thing. Natsu didn't have a cell phone or email, and Lucy didn't have a phone in her home. She should probably consider getting him something soon. They still had most of a year to go. It would be inconvenient if the only way she had to contact him was by summoning him to her.

Lucy only glanced at the alley she usually used to go to her job. After the previous night, she wasn't quite ready to go down there just yet. It didn't matter that it was a different alley, or that it wasn't Halloween or night time, she knew she'd need a little time before she felt comfortable using the path again.

She forced her thoughts back to the previous track. She did the math, wondering if it would be easier to just add another line to her plan, or get one of those pay-as-you-go phones. Either way, she'd have to buy him a phone, which could be expensive. Unless she could find him a used one. Lucy frowned as she crossed the last street before she made it to her work. How hard would it be to teach Natsu how to use a phone? He'd caught on to her laptop pretty quick, but he wasn't doing anything more complicated than researching stuff online. Getting him an email would probably be easier, and definitely cheaper.

She smiled as she entered the building, surprised to find the foyer basically empty. The lady at the front desk had her head propped up on a fist, her eyes closed, barely covered her bangs. Lucy didn't say anything as she passed by. As she made her way to her cubicle, she glanced around the office, noticing that more than half the workers were gone. She found that odd, since usually everyone waited for the weekend to celebrate Halloween. Just how many others had had parties the previous night?

As she turned the last corner, Mira exited her office, causing her to turn back. "Good morning, Mira."

Her boss was as beautiful and happy as ever as she stopped outside her door. "Good morning, Lucy! How was the party last night?"

"Good! Or as good as it could go when Cana demanded she have her drinking contest as soon as every showed up."

Mira giggled as she adjusted the folders she was carrying. "How many did she trick into drinking with her?"

"Just a few. Our new friends Gray and Gajeel, Loke, without much convincing, as usual, and a friend of Natsu's that surprised him with a visit."

Mira giggled again. "Have your new friends sworn to never drink with her again?"

"Nope. In fact, Gajeel demanded a rematch at some point. Gray quit after only a few rounds, so he didn't get too drunk. Natsu's friend ended up passing out in his room, and Loke didn't get too drunk to flirt, but he was too drunk to walk, so he split the pull out couch with Cana."

"Well, I hope you guys did more than just drink."

"Oh yeah. We played some games, too, but only about half the group played, since the others were trying to eat enough to soak up the booze." Lucy smiled. "It was really fun. I didn't sleep as much as I'd like, though, so I kind of wish I'd take a page out of Cana's book and taken the whole day off. It's only four hours, though. A cup of coffee, maybe some chocolate, and I'll be good to go." She cocked her head at her boss. "What did you do last night? You could have come over, if you wanted."

"Oh, that's okay. Laxus came to hide at our place so he wouldn't have to hand out candy, and Elfman and Lisanna went to a party that was thrown by a friend of her boyfriend's. They came back pretty late, but they said they had a good time. I really enjoyed handing out the candy, though, and having Laxus around for company was nice."

Lucy subtly leaned back, seeing Laxus in his own office next to Mira's. "So he just hung out while you were handing out candy?"

"Yep."

"Hiding from kids so _he_ didn't have to hand out candy?"

"Yep."

Lucy squinted her eyes. "All he had to do was keep the lights off in front of his house and they would have left him alone… Did he not try that?"

Mira didn't say anything as she continued to smile, only giving Lucy a bit of a shrug. Lucy glanced at Laxus' shut office door again. "Huh," she said, trying to keep from smiling. "Well, better get to work."

"Sounds good," Mira said, turning around and going back into her office. Lucy laughed when she heard the door open again as she turned into her cube. She pulled out her phone and quickly shot a text to Cana, knowing she'd want to hear about the conversation. The woman couldn't run a proper rumor mill if she didn't get her information while it was still fresh.

* * *

"Tell me again." Cana lifted her head so she could check once more for Mira before lowering herself again.

Lucy sighed. "I've already told you twice, I don't need to tell you again. Now go away so I can work." Cana had showed up an hour before the end of her shift. Apparently her text hadn't contained enough information so she'd come to get the play-by-play from Lucy as soon as she was vertical and mobile. "If you don't leave soon, Mira will find you and put you to work, even if you did request it off. Plus, I have things I have to work on, so shoo!"

"Ugh, Lucy you're no fun!"

Lucy glared. "I went out of my way to question our boss about her maybe relationship with our other boss and then _immediately_ texted you about it. That's not something I would usually do, but I did it for you because you're my best friend, and you're telling me I'm no fun? You can get your own gossip from now on," Lucy said, turning back towards her computer to try and look busy. She knew it would drive Cana crazy to think Lucy would stop helping her gather information from their co-workers. A little fear was good for her every now and then.

"_No, please,_ Lucy, I take it back. You're the funnest person I've ever met! No one can compete with your level of fun! No one!"

Lucy hummed. "I don't know if I believe you. You may need to grovel more, peasant." She gestured to the floor, a glint in her eye.

Cana scoffed. "Yeah, that's a bit far, lady. I ain't getting on my knees for no woman, best friend or not."

"But you would for a man?"

Cana smirked. "For the right man."

"I have a feeling I know who that right man would be." Lucy sighed as she closed up the documents on her computer. "Well, I'm officially too distracted to work. Wanna get out of here? I'll let you drive me to the library, since you've interrupted my workflow."

"I don't have any plans until this evening, so I can drive you." Lucy grabbed her bag after shutting down her computer, then led Cana towards the elevator. "Do you want a ride home after? How long will you be at the library?"

"I'm just stopping to pick up a book. Levy has it on hold for me, and I was going to chat with her for a bit, but I don't think I'll be there long. I would take a ride home, if you're really offering."

"Sounds good."

As the elevator began to lower, Lucy asked, "So what are you going to be up to tonight?"

Cana told her about the elaborate plans Bacchus had for them for the evening as they made their way out to Cana's car. As Cana turned onto the rode, Lucy snorted. "What?" Cana asked.

"You and I both know you won't end up doing half that stuff." Lucy giggled when Cana frowned. "I bet you a Friday night's worth of drinks that you guys end up staying home, drinking and banging until you pass out."

Cana's eyebrows rose. "Oh really? Would this be a Lucy amount of drinks or a Cana amount of drinks?"

"If you win, I pay, if I win, you pay."

"Deal!" Cana reached over. "I bet we follow through with his plans _and then_ go back home to drink and bang."

Lucy raised a finger. "_But_, you can't tell him we made this bet."

"Fine fine, just shake my hand already." They did, both smiling, as Cana parked in front of the library before heading inside. The pair easily made their way through the aisles towards the desk where Levy was sitting perched on a stool. She looked up as the pair approached, smiling as she reached under to grab Lucy's book.

"Hey Lu, got your book right here. What are you doing here, Cana?"

"Lucy got ahold of some interesting information at work today, so I had to come visit to get the whole story."

"What information?" Levy asked curiously. Lucy told her about her conversation with Mira, the unedited version once Cana demanded to hear it again. "Hmm, that does sound suspicious, but it doesn't mean they're dating. It could just be a one sided crush, or maybe Laxus just has rude neighbor kids. I think you should talk to him and see what you can get out of him."

Cana and Lucy both gave her the same derisive look. "Are you serious?" Cana asked.

"Try to get something out of Mr. Stoic?"

"That man gives nothing away when he talks."

"We've been trying for months just to figure out if he's into any sports!"

Cana leaned forward. "You know what is answer always is?"

Lucy crossed her arms and made her expression as bored as possible, with a side of raised eyebrow. "What do I care?" she said in her best impression of the man's voice.

Levy laughed, quickly putting her hand over her mouth to silence the noise. "That was amazing, Lucy."

Lucy's eyes sparkled a little, but she maintained her expression to continue her impression of her boss. "Sure. Can I get this book now? I've got other things to do today."

Cana chuckled too as Levy turned to the computer to check out Lucy's book. "Maybe you should have been Laxus for Halloween. It would have been more convincing than that princess getup."

Lucy huffed, smacking her friend as she and Levy laughed. "I don't know why I put up with you. You're a terrible friend."

"But at least I'm fun," Cana said with a grin.

The three laughed and chatted for a little bit longer, leaving once another person came over to check out a few books of their own. In no time at all, Lucy was home, after a quick stop at the bakery, and waving goodbye to Cana as she pulled away. When Lucy entered her apartment, she was immediately hit with a wave of smells. She breathed deeply as she put her purse and shoes away, making her mouth water. The kitchen was empty as she entered it, zeroing in on the crockpots near her stove. She set down the cornbread she'd purchased as well as the pie before moving towards the food.

Before she could get a good whiff, she paused and noticed that the dishes had been done at some point while she was gone. The drying rack was even empty. Lucy smiled, finding it sweet that Natsu had done one of his least favorite chores just to be helpful. She turned to go thank him, but paused, wanting to take a closer look at the chili before she went in search of her roommate.

Lucy pulled off one of the lids, waiting for the steam to dissipate before leaning in to breathe in deeply. Immediately, she leaned back, coughly at the pungent odor from the peppers invaded her sinuses. She replaced the lid as her eyes began to burn and water.

Natsu entered the room as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "What kind of peppers did you use?" she croaked.

He frowned at her. "All of them I could find, why?"

Lucy took a deep breath, trying to clear out her airways to get rid of the stinging. "The smell is really strong." His frown deepened and he sniffed at the air. She spoke again before he could open his mouth. "It's not strong in the _apartment_. I lifted the lid to smell it, but I didn't know which one was mine and the one I smelled was definitely not mine."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I probably should have marked them."

"No, it's fine," she said, grateful her eyes had stopped watering. "They smell amazing by the way."

He grinned. "Thanks. I wasn't sure what kind you would like, so I compared a few recipes before I picked one."

"I'm sure I'll love it. I got some dessert and cornbread to go with it, by the way," she said as she gestured at the bag. "How was your day?"

"It was okay. Just went to the store and then hung out here, nothing too crazy. How about you?"

"It was an interesting couple hours. Do you mind if I go change before I tell you about it?"

Natsu smiled. "Sure. I'm just gonna check on the food."

"Sounds good," she said, heading through the living room.

Lucy frowned a little as she thought about Happy. She hoped she'd made the right choice with him that morning. Despite his apologies, he was a wild card and she was worried about having him around. As part of the contract, Natsu had agreed to keep his friend out of trouble, but Happy had proven that he was his own demon and could not be controlled. She sighed as she stopped outside of Natsu's room.

Deciding he owed her and couldn't get mad, Lucy knocked softly and then opened the door without waiting for an answer. She saw Happy curled up on Natsu's bed almost completely surrounded by blankets. "Hey, Happy, how are you feeling?"

The blue ear she could see moved a little, eventually followed by the other ear and a pair of eyes. "Morning, Lucy."

She chuckled. "It's actually afternoon. Are you feeling any better?" He'd eaten her eggs that morning, despite some of the ingredients being incompatible with cat stomachs. Happy constantly argued with her that he wasn't a cat, but ever since he'd been affected by the catnip she'd slipped him, she'd tried to keep an eye on him to keep him away from things that weren't cat friendly.

"Yeah, a little, but I'm just gonna keep sleeping for now," he said, snuggling back into his blanket mountain.

"Alright. I'll bring you something to munch on later and some water so you don't get dehydrated, okay?" Lucy assumed the muffled noises she heard were consensual as she shut the door.

It made her feel a little bad, but she felt his current state was ample punishment for his insistence to ignore her request the previous night. As she changed her clothes, once again she worried that he would some day cause problems that she couldn't fix. Eventually, she shrugged the worry off, leaving her room so she could go get something to appease her suddenly ravenous stomach.

_Worst case scenario, I can always redo the summoning circle, right?_

* * *

**You guys thought I sent him home, didn't you? Hehe, psych. **


	16. Chapter 16

**It's always tough for me to run so many of the characters at one time, but I think I did okay in this one. Just a note about Juvia- she doesn't **_**always**_ **refer to herself in the third person in the anime, so I don't always have her do it in my story. I just want to make a note here that I'm doing it on purpose, it is not a typo. **

**I'm planning their first big trip away soon, so I'm pretty excited about that! If anyone has ideas for fun places for them to travel to or interesting things for them to do while they're out and about, shoot me a message and I'll see if I can fit any of them in. If I do, I'll make sure to give you some cred in the chapter it shows up!**

**As always, thanks for the love, and happy reading!**

* * *

Levy grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at Lucy as she and Cana continued to laugh. "You have no room to laugh, Lu!"

"She's right," Cana said. "You're in the same boat."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Natsu and I are just friends. I am not oblivious to any feelings because there are none to be oblivious about."

"You're being awfully accusatory tonight, Cana," Juvia added from her spot next to Levy on the couch. "Juvia saw you eyeing Bacchus last week when we were at the bar. Juvia would say you're just as guilty."

Cana laughed even louder. "There's nothing wrong with appreciating a good drinking buddy. It's rare that I can find someone who can keep up."

"Suuuuure," the other three said in unison.

"Whatever, he has nothing to do with the party, so I don't know why he came up."

"You were the one who suggested dates," Lucy reminded her. "Although, Levy never comes to our Friendsgiving, so I don't know why you singled her out first." For the past four years, Lucy had planned and hosted a Thanksgiving meal for her friends who had no family to spend the day with. The holiday was only a few weeks away, so she'd invited the girls over to help her plan while Natsu and Happy were out exploring the nearby towns.

"Actually, I'm going to be available to come this year," Levy said. "My parents are taking a long trip this month and they're not sure if they're going to be back in time for Thanksgiving. They're planning on celebrating the week after, so I'll be free to come this time."

"That will be fun! I guess Cana might be onto something, then," Lucy teased, causing more popcorn to be thrown at her. "Would you stop that! Otherwise I'll make you clean up after Plue if he eats any of those."

Levy stuck out her tongue in response before stuffing her face with a handful. Juvia sighed as she helped Lucy pick up the pieces before Plue could get to them. "So how many are you inviting this year? We should figure out a number before we plan out the food."

"Well, Mira said her brother and sister will be in town, and she's invited Laxus to her place, so those two won't be joining us."

"Ooo, does that mean they've finally gotten their shit together and are dating?" Cana asked.

"No idea, but I'm not about to interfere." Lucy dumped the popcorn she'd gathered from the floor onto one of the dirty plates before picking up her notebook. "Let's see, if we add Levy to the usual group, that brings us up to five. Gray said it was just him and his brother living here now, so I was going to invite them and see if the rest of their band wanted to come."

"I believe I remember my beloved saying that Jet is actually from this area, so he may already have family to spend it with." Juvia looked at Levy. "I don't believe I heard anything about Gajeel having family around, though."

Levy pointed a warning finger at her. "Don't you start, too."

Lucy made a note. "Alright, so assuming those three come, that brings us up to eight, maybe nine."

"Don't forget Natsu," Cana added.

"Yeah, it'd be hard to keep him away since he's staying here. Plus, I doubt he'd stay away from a holiday celebration that's so focused around a meal," Levy said with a laugh.

Lucy frowned to herself, but wrote the name down. Did demons celebrate human holidays, besides Halloween? They were right, she couldn't _not_ invite him since he was living with her, but would he even want to celebrate with them? "I'll ask him when he gets back. In the meantime, does anyone-"

"Where is Natsu?" Levy asked.

"Yeah," Cana said. "I kind of expected him to cook for us again. How can he practice if he's not here?"

"He's just out exploring. It's been a while since he lived here last, so he went to some of the surrounding towns to see what other stores and stuff they had."

"Sounds kind of boring. Why didn't you go with him, Lu?" Levy tossed more popcorn in her mouth, picking up a piece she dropped.

"I figured this would be a good time to plan, and he was okay with going alone." She shrugged. "I don't know, it didn't seem like that big a deal."

"My Gray enjoys his peace and quiet sometimes as well, so Juvia doesn't see an issue with it."

"Alright, we're getting off topic," Lucy said, leaning towards her notebook again. "Since we have so many this year, I think we should do a turkey _and_ ham this time." Before she could continue, there was a knock at her door. "Hold that thought."

When Lucy saw Plue jump down from his perch to head for the front door, she knew exactly who was on the other side. She unlocked the door and opened it with a smile. "Hey Loke! What's up?"

Loke was dressed more casually than usual, in dark pants with an orange T-shirt under his green jacket. He smiled as he leaned down to pick up Plue before he could stick his claws in Loke's leg. "Hey Princess, I was just stopping by to say hi."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You can stop with the nickname any time, Loke. You wanna come inside? The girls are all here."

"Oooo, are you having a bikini sleepover?"

"Are those even a thing?"

"They could be," he said with his most charming grin.

She rolled her eyes again, but moved to let him into her entryway. "Well, that's not what's happening. They came over to help me plan Friendsgiving."

"Oh." He was silent for a beat before he shouted towards the living room. "Dibs on booze!"

"Hey, you can't do that!" Cana yelled back. "We haven't started choosing dishes yet!"

"Doesn't matter, I called dibs." Loke followed Lucy with Plue in his arms. "We all know what my cooking skills are like. Alcohol is the safest choice for me."

"Says the man who owns a restaurant," Lucy said under her breath.

"Cana's aren't much better," Levy teased with a smirk at the brunette. Cana stuck out her tongue and threw a piece of popcorn in response.

Lucy sat down to write down Loke's name, followed by alcohol. "Alright, so does anyone want to do the turkey or ham? I can do both if I have to, but it'd be easier for me to do one and then potatoes or something."

"I can do the ham," Juvia said. "I found a recipe a while ago that I'd like to try for stuffing as well."

"Awesome," Lucy said, adding the note. Plue, deciding he'd had enough of Loke's attention, hopped from the man's arms and curled into Lucy's lap.

Loke sat down next to Lucy on the floor as he spoke. "Do you want me to bring buns or anything as well? Maybe pickles or nuts or something to munch on in between?"

"Sure, that sounds fine," Lucy answered as she added to the list.

Cana spoke up. "I'll do the green bean casserole. I think I can manage to not ruin that. Even if I do, it's not a super important dish or anything, so no one will miss it." The rest of the group laughed a little as they continued to plan. As they finished assigning dishes, the front door opened, causing Lucy to bolt up.

As Plue got back to his feet from where he'd fallen, the blond quickly moved into the kitchen. "Hey, Natsu, welcome back!"

"Hey Luce! Did you know-"

"That I have a bunch of company over? I absolutely did!"

The group in the living room were all silent as they watched the pair whisper back and forth in the entryway. "Nothing going on, my ass," Cana whispered.

"I'm inclined to agree with you," Juvia said.

"Lu keeps denying it, but I can't help but think she's keeping something from us," Levy added. She turned to ask Loke what he thought, the words dying in her throat as she did. He was studying the pair intensely as they spoke to each other, a frown marring his usually happy face.

Everyone turned back towards each other as Lucy and Natsu finally moved to join them. "Hey guys, long time no see!"

Levy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's been _hours_ since we were together. Practically forever!" The others laughed as Natsu chuckled at her.

"I just have to drop off these bags in my room and then I'll be back. You guys up to anything fun?"

"Just planning Friendsgiving," Juvia said.

"What's Friendsgiving?" he asked.

Lucy answered him. "It's our version of Thanksgiving, where all us friends get together to celebrate, since we don't have families around to spend it with."

"Yeah, and you fit that bill now, so you wanna come?" Cana asked.

The look Natsu shot Lucy was so fast, she almost didn't see it. "I don't know, maybe. I'll think about it." With that, he turned and headed down the hall.

"Does he not like us?" Levy asked with a frown. "He seemed hesitant to say yes."

Lucy shook her head. "He likes you all just fine. Maybe he doesn't like the holiday or something."

"Well, we invited him, so it's up to him now," Cana said. "Anyone know if Maker Magic is playing next Friday so we can invite them?"

"Not next week, but Gajeel and Gray have been showing up on some of the Fridays they don't play." Levy tossed a piece of popcorn to Loke as she caught his gaze. He caught it with a smile and wink as she continued. "We might see them anyway."

"I can shoot Gray a text," Lucy said, pulling out her phone.

A bowl hitting the floor caused the group to all look at Juvia, who spoke in a whisper. "Lucy has Gray's number?"

"Yeah, we traded numbers before he walked you home on Halloween, just in case."

"Lucy should not have the number of Juvia's love before Juvia does."

Lucy sighed. "I'm sure if you just asked him for it, he would give it to you."

Juvia muttered something, only the words 'love rival' loud enough for anyone to hear and understand, before she leaned down to clean up the bowl.

"Love you too, Juv," Lucy mumbled.

Natsu entered the room, smiling as he headed to the table to grab a handful of popcorn from the nearly empty bowl. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Nothing really, just finishing up our planning," Lucy answered with a quick look at Juvia. "Since we're done, anyone wanna play a game or something before dinner?"

"Oooo, what are we having?" Natsu asked.

"We?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We're ordering pizza," Levy said, catching a piece of popcorn from Loke before tossing another one to him.

"Ooo, I want an everything one," Natsu said, "with extra peppers. And anything else they have that is spicy." His face lit up. "Do we still have those _really_ spicy peppers you got me last weekend? I can add those when it gets here."

"What were they? Ghost Peppers?" Levy asked, laughing when Loke hit her in the face. She chucked a piece at him as she picked up the one she'd missed.

"We got those a couple weeks ago. There are actually a few that are hotter than those," Lucy said. "I managed to find him some Carolina Reapers. They're the hottest peppers in the world."

"How hot are they?" Cana asked.

"Twice as hot as Ghost Peppers," Lucy said.

"Are you gonna try one?" Loke asked Levy.

"I'm not sure. The Ghost Pepper was pretty hard to get down."

"Wait, wait, wait," Natsu cut in. "You like spicy food, too?"

"I'm not winning any pepper eating contests, but I like really spicy meals on occasion."

"Then you are totally going to have a Reaper with me!"

"Woah woah, wait Natsu-"

"Come on!" Natsu grabbed Levy's arm and practically dragged her over both the coffee table and Loke as he pulled her towards the kitchen.

Loke flinched. "Guess I shouldn't have said anything. Whoops."

Lucy sighed. "I'll go try to stop him. Can one of you call the pizza order in? And throw in a supreme with all the peppers they have? I'll pay for the extra."

"You got it," Cana said, pulling out her phone. As she stood and walked towards the hallway, where it was quiet, Juvia turned towards Loke.

"Are you okay, Loke?"

Loke gave her his signature smile. "Of course, why do you ask?"

"I get the feeling that you don't like Natsu."

Loke raised an eyebrow. "A little while ago I got the feeling that you didn't like Lucy."

Juvia glowered at the back of Lucy's head. The blond was trying to stop Natsu from manhandling Levy and forcing a pepper into her mouth. "Lucy is Juvia's friend, but she is becoming too attached to Juvia's Gray. However, love rival or not, Juvia still likes Lucy." Her eyes cleared when she met Loke's gaze again. "Do you like Natsu? Do you consider him a friend?"

Loke turned to watch the trio in the kitchen. Lucy had successfully stopped Natsu from forcing Levy to eat the pepper, but Levy had started demanding that Lucy let her try one, annoyed that Lucy believed it was too hot for her. While Lucy tried to talk her out of it, Natsu was trying to dodge the blond's arms and give the pepper to Levy anyway.

"I don't know. I don't think we've hung out enough yet for me to really consider him a friend. At this point, I think he's still just a friend of a friend."

"Do you like him?" Juvia asked again.

Loke contemplated his answer in silence, watching the scene unfold in the kitchen. Juvia knew that because of her father, Lucy found it difficult to trust the intentions of the men in her life. She could still remember when Loke had first started trying to spend time with them years ago. He'd hit on Lucy almost immediately after meeting her, which caused problems for him for months after as he tried to convince her that he truly wanted to be her friend. Juvia had been surprised when Lucy had finally accepted that he was being sincere. She remembered when Loke had once confided in her, after getting completely wasted drinking with Cana, how happy he'd been that Lucy had agreed to be his friend, and how proud he was that he was her only close male friend.

Juvia looked up at the trio in the kitchen and then back at Loke as he studied the group. She wondered if he was jealous at all that Natsu and Lucy had grown so close after only a few weeks. Frowning, Juvia looked up to observe them for herself. She realized she herself found it odd how easily Lucy had accepted Natsu into her life. Even having known him as a child, her easy acceptance struck her as somewhat odd. Loke turning back towards her drew her out of her thoughts.

He grabbed another few pieces of popcorn as he smiled up at her. "I like him well enough."

As Cana re-entered the room, Juvia turned away from Loke, choosing to let him think she believed him.

* * *

**Happy Easter everyone!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I had trouble writing this part. The story I'm reading right now got very angsty recently and I had trouble working around that. I have a tendency to get pretty caught up in my reading so it sometimes gets in the way of my writing. I hope I managed to keep a lid on it enough- my goal was have some fun in this one. I've got a surplus of fun times coming up for their trip together, and a lot of NaLu time, so bear with me in the meantime.**

**As always, thanks for the love, and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy tossed the cans in her hand into the cart before moving again. "Let's see. Next we need rice."

"What kind?" Natsu asked looking over her shoulder at her list.

"Well, I prefer the minute rice, but you might prefer the other stuff. We'd have to get a rice cooker, though, if we went that route. It's up to you, Mr. Chef."

Natsu chuckled. "I guess let's get the minute rice then. I'll have to look into it later." Lucy nodded as she grabbed the box and moved on again. "So, any reason you wanted to go grocery shopping?"

Lucy glanced at him over her shoulder. "Is it really so weird that I want to stock up on food?"

"No, but you haven't done it since I showed up. Usually I go out and do the shopping while you're at work or something." When she paused, he nearly ran into her, not expecting it. When he leaned forward to look at her, she was staring into space somewhere ahead of herself. "Lucy?"

"I never even realized," she said, starting forward again. "I can't believe I didn't notice. I wouldn't even be out _now_ if I didn't need to pick out out a turkey. Crazy…"

As they entered the baking aisle, Natsu lit up. As they passed through, Natsu quietly snatched a bag of marshmallows from the shelf, carefully keeping it out of sight. As they passed the right section, he spoke up again. "I think we're low on sugar," he said.

"Are we? Hmm." Lucy looked around, then took a few steps back towards the correct shelf. As she did, he quickly hid the bag of marshmallows in the cart. He turned and pretended like he was studying the shelves as she added the bag to the cart. She leaned around him to figure out what he was looking at. "Do you want pudding?"

Natsu blinked. "What's pudding?"

"Creamy, sugary deliciousness," she said seriously, grabbing a chocolate mix from in front of him and tossing it in the cart. "We're going to start you off with the best one first, and then you can try the others. Ooo, and we need this."

Natsu frowned as he read the box she held out to him. "Hot chocolate?"

"Yeah. It's a drink that's really good for this time of year. Plus, it will go nicely with that bag of marshmallows you think I didn't see you grab." To help make her point, she set the box of hot chocolate mix right on top of the mostly hidden bag. She smiled to herself when she saw him blush as he looked away from her. "What I don't get is how you know what marshmallows are but don't know about pudding and hot chocolate. They're in the same aisle, how have you not seen them?"

"Well, I know what marshmallows are because it was one of the few things that survived Happy's kitchen raid the first night we were here, and I don't know what the other things are because I usually just get what I need and leave."

"That doesn't fit in very well with your 'explore everything' plan."

He shrugged. "I'm learning what I need to when I need to."

She squinted at him. "How can food _not_ be a priority for you?" When he only shrugged again, she decided to let it go for the moment before asking about something that had been bothering her.

"How do you pay for groceries? I remember you saying that you can't just magic up money, and I know I haven't given you any." Lucy kept her voice low while they shopped, choosing to remain silent when they passed by the other customers.

Natsu avoided looking at her as he moved to look at the spices, mumbling under his breath. He grabbed a couple jars and put them in the cart before looking at her again. She was leaning against the cart, eyebrow raised expectantly. He flushed a little as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not important," he finally said.

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you stealing food from the store to feed us?"

"No," he answered, "but I can't tell you how I get it."

"Why?"

"It's a demon thing."

Annoyance pricked at the edges of her mind. "You have no problem telling me about your 'dragon things,'" she said, making the motions with her fingers. She closed her mouth and began to walk again as an older couple entered the aisle. When they finally made it into the next aisle, which was empty, she continued. "Why can't you tell me about your demon thing?"

"Demons are even more secretive than dragons, and that's saying something." He raised his hand to stop her from commenting. "Most dragons are _very_ secretive, I was just raised by one that's more loose lipped with those he cares about or trusts. That's not to say we'd share the location of our hoards or anything like that, but I'm more willing to answer questions than other demons."

Lucy briefly wondered which of the two categories she fell into, care or trust, before deciding to address another question she had. "That reminds me, I wanted to ask about Wendy. What's the story with her? She's even nicer than you, so there's no way she's a full blooded demon, right?"

Natsu grinned. "You think I'm nice?"

Lucy blinked at him a few times as she stopped again. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

He shrugged, grabbing the box she couldn't quite reach on the top shelf. "It's just not something I hear very often."

Lucy grinned at the embarrassed look on his face. "Well I think you are. Try not to get a big head over it," she teased, "and answer my question.

"Well, Wendy is about three quarters dragon and one quarter demon. She's from a race known as Sky Maidens. In the demon world, they're the nicest beings you'll ever meet. Plus, she is also one of the very few beings in our world that was raised by a dragon. While Igneel's magic revolves around fire, her mother, Grandeeney, is a sky dragon and her magic deals with wind. It mixes really well with Wendy's Sky Maiden blood, so she's really strong, even though she's young for a demon."

"How old is she?"

"Way younger than me," he answered as he eagerly moved towards the hot sauce section. Lucy giggled quietly as she watched him study the bottles as though he were making a life or death decision. He pulled down one bottle of every kind on the shelf, sometimes holding two to compare, muttering under his breath the entire time.

After a couple minutes, Lucy sighed. "I'm going to keep going. Come join me when you're done." Natsu made a noise in his throat which she took to mean he'd heard her and moved on to the next aisle. She made it through two more aisles quietly, spending some time at the tea wall when she saw a couple shelves with new flavors. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't notice someone was approaching until a pair of arms was thrown around her.

Lucy jumped. "Natsu, what are you-"

"LULU!"

Her stomach plummeted as she tried to wrestle herself from the man's grip. When she eventually managed to pull away, she moved so that her cart was between her and the newcomer. "Hello, Dan."

Dan Straight, ladies man, self proclaimed poet and scum of the earth, pouted at her as he held his arms out to her. "Aw, come on Lulu, it's been so long since we've seen each other! Come give me a proper hug."

The thought of choosing to touch him made her skin itch. "I'd rather not, Dan, if that's okay."

"You're no fun at all." He leaned heavily onto her cart and hooked a foot around one of the wheels, making it impossible for Lucy to go anywhere. "Tell me, Lulu, where have you been? You said you'd call me back, but I haven't heard from you in weeks! I missed you."

She had done no such thing, but chose not to point out his lie. "Sorry Dan, I've been busy with work and other things lately." Lucy swallowed, willing Natsu to show up and scare the man off.

"It's never good to spend too much time on your work, Lulu. You need time to relax! I can help with that," he said with a smile. "What do you say? Wanna go out with me next weekend?"

"Uh, I can't, sorry, I have plans."

"I'm available this week, too, if you'd prefer to go on a weekday."

Briefly Lucy considered summoning Natsu with the mark on her side. _Don't overreact, you can handle this._ "I can't do that either. I've got plans with my friends, and I have to get the apartment cleaned up before the holidays. I'm sorry."

Dan reached forward, grabbing her hand before she could pull away. "Lulu," he said seriously, his eyebrows drawn together. "You need to relax. Have some we time-"

"Don't you mean 'me' time?"

"-and go on a date with me. I won't take no for an answer!"

"I'm sorry, but that's the only answer I have," Lucy said, tugging on her hand. His grip was just hard enough to keep her from escaping but soft enough to not hurt her.

"Why do you ignore the feelings I have for you, Lulu? My soul yearns for you, my body begs for your touch, my heart beats only in anticipation of seeing you again!"

"I'm really sorry, Dan, but I just don't have time right now."

Dan leaned forward, his expression serious again. "Lulu, are you seeing someone else?"

Lucy opened her mouth, but as she saw Natsu enter the aisle they were in, she changed course. "Yes, actually, and we're an exclusive thing, sorry."

Dan pulled back and put a hand to his heart. "Oh cruel fate, why?! Lulu, I demand to know what I can do to earn another chance at your heart."

"Uh, well, there isn't anything. I, uh, I'm pretty committed." Lucy hated lying, but she perked up at her next words. "We're even living together!" _Ha! That's not a lie!_

Dan's hand loosened a little as his mouth fell open. Lucy took her opportunity to yank her hand away and move past him towards Natsu. The demon looked confused as she reached him, but before he could say anything, she grabbed his hand and wrapped it around her wrist, just like he did when he needed to read her without alerting anyone.

"I'm glad you're back!" She spoke loud enough Dan could hear her, while also pleading with her eyes for Natsu to understand what she wanted. "I want you to meet someone! _Go with it_," she whispered as she turned back to Dan, forcing all of her memories of the man to the front of her mind for Natsu to see, tacking on the idea she'd had. "Natsu, this is Dan Straight, an acquaintance of mine. Dan, this is Natsu Dragneel, my boyfriend."

To Natsu's credit, his expression gave nothing away as he quickly read Lucy and the situation so he could act accordingly. "It's nice to meet you, Dan," he said, putting his arm around Lucy's shoulder's. "I'm sorry, I don't recall Lucy ever mentioning you. How do you two know each other?"

Lucy swallowed her smile at the jab as Dan's face fell. "Lulu never even mentioned me?" He perked up. "Well that's to be expected, I guess. We did have a pretty amazing night together a couple months ago. I imagine it would be difficult to keep from comparing us if she thought about me while she was with you, and Lucy wouldn't want to hurt your feelings."

Lucy's face instantly turned red, and Natsu felt that it was from both anger and embarrassment at Dan's suggestion. "Unfortunately, I think you may be wrong, Dan. Being the best boyfriend she's ever had is only _one _of the things she's said I excel at."

Dan finally straightened up and let go of her cart. "Is that so?"

Natsu nodded, squeezing Lucy's shoulder to reassure her. "I'm afraid so. I'm not one to kiss and tell, but I do know there isn't a thing I've done that wasn't better than any other boyfriend or date she's had." He cocked his head to the side. "What did she tell _you_ that you were the best at?"

Dan's face turned red. He cleared his throat and he started to walk passed them. "Lulu, I think it would be a good idea if we spent some time away from each other. Someday we can see eachother again, but I don't think it's a good idea right now." With that, he left the aisle without so much as a glance behind them.

Lucy's entire body felt warm, warmer than it should from just being pressed up against Natsu's side. When he'd been talking to Dan, she'd found herself in the strange position of being fought over. Even if it hadn't been real for Natsu, the way he'd spoken had put images in her head that she wasn't comfortable seeing. His implications that he was the best boyfriend, the best kisser, the… _best_ that she'd ever had, had sparked a longing that she was having trouble shaking.

Lucy was no prude. She'd been on dates, she'd kissed guys, she'd even had sex twice, although neither time had been stellar. Her boyfriend at the time had been a great guy and they'd been together for two years before they finally did the deed. After the second time, they'd agreed they lacked the spark to make it work between them and broken up. A few months later, he'd figured out he was gay. She'd taken to keeping herself satisfied over the last couple years because she had trouble imagining herself sleeping with any of the guys she'd dated since then.

With Natsu, however, his words easily painted that picture for her. It wasn't difficult at all to envision herself going on dates with him. She could see them holding hands as they went to a movie together. She could see them laughing together as they went out to eat. She could see them cuddled up on her couch. She could see them kissing, her hands digging into his hair as his hands ran up her sides under her shirt. She could see them in her bedroom, removing their clothes…

"Luce? Something wrong? You feel warmer than usual."

Lucy's face heated up even more. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine! Sorry. I, uh, I think it's from being so close to you. You're like a living, breathing furnace."

He immediately dropped his arm. "Sorry about that. I hope I did that okay?"

Lucy's imagination ran wildly through the images she'd unconsciously created as her mouth went dry. "D-did what okay?"

"Took care of that Dan guy. You didn't give me specifics, just shouted 'get rid of him' with something vague about him thinking we were together."

"Oh!" Lucy moved forward to grab the cart and hide her face from Natsu. _Get your shit together, Lucy!_ "Yeah, that was fine. Hopefully it sticks and he'll leave me alone for good."

Natsu followed behind her as they moved to the next aisle. "Your friends are right. You really _are _terrible at just telling men no."

_I wouldn't tell you no_. She stopped at the end of the aisle, laying down her head on her fists. Lucy squeezed the cart's handle so hard it made her joints hurt, hoping the sting would distract her thoughts enough that she could get her mind back on track. When Natsu asked if she was okay, she waved him off, telling him she needed a minute.

He didn't say anymore, just walked farther down the aisle as she focused on getting herself together. She was absolutely, positively, definitely _not_ having dirty thoughts about her contracted, demon roommate. Nope, never. _Deep breath, Lucy. Get your act together._

After a minute or so, she felt better. When she stood up again, Natsu was walking back towards her with a bag of spicy Cheetos. Lucy smiled up at him, ready to get their conversation back on track and thank him for dealing with Dan so they could discuss what they were going to have for dinner. As she did, she noticed that he'd rolled his sleeves up to his elbows again. Rolled up sleeves on a dress shirt were one of Lucy's favorite looks on men. Through in a vest or an undone button or two, and it was over for her.

He was only wearing a red long sleeved shirt, but it was one that had two buttons at the top, and they were peaking out beneath his scarf. Lucy tilted her head and regretted the action instantly- the buttons were definitely undone. She couldn't stop herself from looking him up and down as her body heated up again. He gave her a huge smile as he approached her. "Look at these, Luce! They're crunchy, they're cheesy, and they're hot! I bet they're _amazing!_"

Lucy had surely swallowed her tongue. Why was he so freaking hot when he was excited and smiling like that? Why did she think he was hot at all? Was it because she had been thinking about sex? It had been a while since she'd taken care of herself… When Lucy looked down at his arms again, she was almost certain she felt steam come out of her ears. As soon as he dropped the bag in the cart, she swung the cart around and headed for the frozen section, not even looking to see if he was following.

She needed to cool off. _Now._


	18. Chapter 18

**I don't have anything fun for a note this time… So, happy Saturday!**

**Did you know that penguins do, in fact have knees?**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy smiled as she entered Loke's restaurant. It had been a while since she'd come by herself, and she was looking forward to a nice quiet meal in her favorite booth with the book she was currently reading. With Natsu working on some 'master plan' for his next trip, he'd elected not to come, leaving her on her own for the first Monday since he'd arrived.

She smiled wide as Aries welcomed her and started leading her towards her booth.

"I'm sorry, Lucy, but Loke asked to be informed once you were here. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Lucy said as she slid into the booth. "Do you have any idea what he wants?"

The hostess' face fell. "No, he didn't tell me. I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, I can wait until he gets here to tell me himself," Lucy reassured her.

"Okay. Your server will be with you shortly."

Lucy thanked her as she turned and made her way back to the hostess' stand. She didn't bother pulling the menu over- she already knew what she wanted. Instead, she pulled out her book and waited. She had a new server, so she gave her drink and food order at the same time, doing her best to put the shaky teen at ease. She had her drink and was completely focused on her book by the time Loke joined her.

"Sorry about that," he said as he straightened his jacket. "I'm learning that I shouldn't have more than one new server running around at a time. I'm not sure how it's possible to mess up drink orders so bad, but one of them put in an order for a beer for a _child_. It's been an interesting evening." He looked up at her and smiled. "I know you got one of the new guys, did he mess up your order as well?"

Lucy shook her head. "My drink is exactly what I asked for."

Loke sighed. "Hopefully the food comes out correctly, too." His gaze shifted to the other side of the booth. "Where is Natsu?"

"Busy planning his next trip."

"Oh? Where is he going?" Loke slid into the seat across from her, scanning the crowd as he did.

"He wants to go skiing. I always hear about how great Aspen is for that kind of thing, so he's been doing research for there."

One of Loke's eyebrows shot up. "Ms. Raised-with-Money doesn't know what it's like to ski in Aspen? Isn't that one of those obligatory places for rich people to spend holidays at?"

Lucy stuck her tongue out at her friend, used to the his teasing about her previous life as an heiress. "For your information, my mother and father _did_ own a cabin out there, but they didn't like skiing. We only ever went sledding, and by the time I was old enough for them to try and teach me… well, you know."

Loke nodded before changing the subject. "I thought Natsu was checking out different places so he could find somewhere to settle down."

Lucy took a sip of her drink. "He is, but he said it's been a long since he went and he really enjoyed it when he used to do it with his parents. He thought it might be a nice place to live, _if_ he can remember how to ski." Lucy took another drink, hating how much lying she was forced to do to protect her and Natsu's secret.

Loke moved to sit with his back against the wall, so he could watch his new servers work. "Well, I hope he has fun."

"Me too, especially since I'm going along."

Loke's body froze for a second before he finally got comfortable. "Really?"

"Yeah. Since I'm letting him stay with me, he's compromising by letting me tag along for some of his trips."

"Why didn't you go along to Japan?" he asked. Almost immediately, he seemed to realize he knew the answer as they both said _seafood_ at the same time. "I forgot food was a big part of his last trip."

"Yep." Lucy stretched out her legs a bit. "It's been a while since I've been skiing. Do you remember the last time we went together, with Juvia and Cana?"

Loke groaned quietly. "How could I forget? Juvia did well, but Cana got too drunk our first day there and got herself banned from the lifts for the rest of the week."

Lucy laughed. "I can't believe she got sick on the lift! How many people did she throw up on? Do you remember?"

"Four…" he grumbled as she tried to hide her face behind her hands. "I don't know why you're laughing."

"Because I wasn't one of the people she did it to." Lucy struggled to contain her laughter as Loke glared at her. "Oh come on now, you don't still think she was aiming for you, do you?"

"I think what I think, let's leave it at that."

Lucy leaned forward to grab one of his hands. "Come on, don't be a baby. It was just poor timing, for all four of you. Cana wouldn't force herself to get sick just so she could throw up on you. Especially because she prides herself on being able to hold her liquor."

"She was pretty mad at me at the time. She might have." He moved his hand sideways so he could gently squeeze her fingers.

"Well next time, don't seduce her drinking partner."

Loke sighed. "We agreed to be each other's wingman. I was suppose to find people to drink with her, and then I got to seduce them once she drunk them under the table. It was a flawless system until she got too attached to the last one."

"In Cana's defense, the girl was keeping up with her, and that's no easy feat."

Loke sucked in a shallow breath. "I couldn't help myself. Her tolerance was _hot_."

Lucy snorted. "You think any quality is hot. Even the bad ones."

Loke waved his finger at her. "In small doses, they can be alright. It depends on the hot to crazy to time together ratio."

Lucy blinked at him. Then blinked again. "I'm not even going to pretend I want to know what that means."

"Well, the hot part-"

Lucy half stood so she could reach across the table to put her hand over Loke's mouth. "Shhhh, I don't want to know. Keep your mathematical seduction equations to yourself." He didn't say anything as he watched her sit back down. "Don't you need to get back to work? I feel like I'm keeping you."

Loke shook his head as he let go of her hand. "I'm the boss. I can take a break whenever I need to." He swallowed, looking a little nervous. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" she asked. As she watched him fidget in his seat, she started to worry a little bit. "Loke, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's, uh… I wanted to talk to you about… Natsu…"

Lucy ignored the way her heartbeat quickened. She leaned back in her seat as nonchalantly as possible. "Oh? What about him?"

Loke let out a long breath before meeting her eyes again. "Are you sure you can trust him?" Before she could even think about her answer, he grabbed both of her hands to reassure her as he continued talking. "Don't get me wrong, he seems like a nice guy- even if he is a little weird. I just… I remember how you were when I first met you. You had a lot of trouble trusting men. It took me almost a year to befriend you, and even then, you didn't trust me to be alone with you. It might be because of how hard I had to work at it, but I cherish your friendship more than anyone else's. I care a great deal about you and I don't want anything to happen to you, which is why I'm worried.

"I understand that you used to know him way back when, but it was only for a few months, correct?" She nodded but didn't say anything, so he continued. "It's been years since you've seen him. Then all of a sudden, he showed up out of nowhere, and started crashing at your place. Are you sure you're okay living with him? I mean, obviously nothing has happened yet, but are you positive you're going to be okay living with him until he figures out where he's going? I worry that he's taking advantage of you, or might try to hurt you."

Lucy's face softened as she smiled at him. "Loke, I'm going to be okay, I promise. Natsu won't hurt me, I'm sure of it."

"How, though? How can you be sure? When people grow up, they can change, they can become entirely different people. How can you be so sure that you'll be okay?"

"Natsu isn't that kind of person." When Loke opened his mouth to argue again, she squeezed his hands tighter. "Loke, you just have to trust me. Even if you don't trust Natsu, you trust me right?" He nodded. "Then believe me when I say I'll be okay."

Loke pulled her hands closer. "You'll tell me if you need help, right?" When she nodded, he pulled her hands closer still and leaned her way, staring intensely into her eyes. "No matter what it is, no matter how crazy it sounds, if you need _any_ help, if you have _any_ problems, just let me know, okay?"

Lucy felt a shiver make its way over her skin as she nodded her head again. "I know you're always there for me, Loke. I promise I'll come to you if I need help."

He studied her for a moment more before he released her hands, his face softening back into his usual easygoing expression. "Alright then. For now, I'll stop bothering you about it."

One of the waitresses stopped at their table to talk to Loke, drawing his attention away from her. Lucy took another sip of her drink before looking around the restaurant. It was starting to fill up, with almost half the tables full of people. Lucy watched Aries leading a few men towards a table at the opposite end of the building. Just before she looked away, the first man turned her way to slide into the booth and Lucy felt her entire body go numb. As the next man sat, the edges of her vision darkened. The third and fourth men did not turn, but as they spoke to the others, she caught a glimpse of their profiles, and she knew for certain it was them.

_Don't panic. Breathe. _

_Don't panic. Breathe. _

_They don't see you._

_Don't panic. Breathe._

Lucy tried to calm her breathing, but there was nothing she could do about the way her heartbeat accelerated. As quickly as she could with her shaky fingers, she pulling her hair into a low bun and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up. She reached for her drink, but her hands were shaking so bad, she decided not to pick up the glass. Keeping her eyes downcast, she tried to focus on what Loke was saying to his employee.

"- can't be that hard. I'll go talk to him." The waitress nodded and then left. Loke sighed. "I brought this on myself, didn't I? It shouldn't be possible to screw up so badly." He smiled as he looked her way, but it disappeared as he soon as they locked eyes. "Lucy, you okay?"

Heartbeat still loudly filling her ears, she had trouble understanding his words for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just kind of tired."

It was clear by his expression that he didn't believe her. "Lucy, I just told you-"

"Yes, Loke, I know, you'll help me if I need it. Don't worry, I'm fine. Go save your baby, before the new kids destroy something." She shooed him off, not letting up until he finally made his way towards the kitchens. Once he was out of sight, she glanced over at the other table again before moving to the opposite side of her booth. She scooted next to the wall and opened her book again..

When the waiter came back, she assured him she was fine, she just preferred the light from that side of the table better. Despite having the book out, she couldn't seem to focus long enough to read more than a sentence before her thoughts were pulled away again. She continued to fight with herself through her meal.

She didn't even remember leaving or walking home, and when she arrived, she didn't question why Natsu wasn't home. She locked the door, checked all of her windows, and went to her room, where she locked and relocked the window, pulling the curtains tightly closed. She crawled into her bed, wrapped her blankets around herself, and continued to fight with the images that slowly forced their way to the forefront of her mind.

When Natsu returned shortly after and came to her door, she pretended she was asleep, refusing to acknowledge his questions or respond to his wishes for her to sleep well. Despite feeling safer wrapped up in her blankets, the dark made it more difficult to block out the memories. She considered turning on a light, but she didn't want to let Natsu know she was still awake. Despite how hard she fought it, the darkness in her mind eventually overtook her.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

Lucy pressed her palms to her ears.

_Manacles bit into her wrists, clanging against chains that bound her to the wall._

She rubbed at her wrists, twisting her shirt sleeves tight against them.

_Rough palms squeezed her shins as her ankles were tied down._

She rubbed her hands up and down her legs, chasing the shivers away.

_A heavy figure, one she couldn't make out through the hood over her head, sat on her stomach, holding her still as her waist was strapped down._

Lucy's arms wrapped protectively around her middle.

_Her shirt was violently ripped from her body, causing goosebumps to appear all across her torso._

She tugged the blanket tighter around her as she curled tightly into herself. She whispered to herself while keeping her eyes wide open, staring at the clock across the room. "Breathe. You are safe. You are home. They cannot find you. Breathe. You are safe. You are home. They cannot find you…" It was much later when Lucy finally closed her eyes, her exhaustion pulling her into a restless sleep.

* * *

Natsu sat outside of Lucy's room, listening as her breathing finally leveled out. He'd felt her panic when she'd been at Loke's restaurant, causing him to race home. Unfortunately, she'd returned before him and locked herself in her room. He'd tried talking to her, but without giving away that he knew she was upset, and that she wasn't sleeping, he hadn't been able to do anything to help her.

He furrowed his brows as he adjusted his legs. Something had happened that had scared her. He was fairly certain that once she'd returned, the feeling had changed slightly. She was still scared, but it had an almost fuzzy quality to it, as though it was a fear that she was remembering, rather than experiencing for the first time. Natsu recalled everything he'd learned about Lucy since he'd met her, but she'd never told him about any incidents that would have caused this amount of anguish.

It reminded him of the way she'd felt when Midnight had found her. She hadn't mentioned it, but he knew she'd been struggling with nightmares since that night. The nightmares made him twitchy, and even if he had needed the sleep, he knew he wouldn't have been able to get any shut eye at night because of it. He worried that her dreams were going to get even worse after whatever had happened.

Natsu listened to her breathing even out as he tried to figure out what he could do to help her. His options weren't good, and because of his unique position in her life, he decided that he was probably the best being suited to helping her through whatever was wrong. He grit his teeth, upset with himself for his decision to invade her privacy and potentially lose her trust, but he saw no other way.

He sighed as he raised his hand towards the knob of her door, easily unlocking it. He chanted quietly, coaxing her door open silently before reaching out with his magic to bring her phone to him. Once it was safely in his hand and her door was shut, he carefully made his way down the hall to the kitchen. He pulled open the phone after checking to make sure it was late enough. When he realized it was locked, he fought with himself, again, before using his magic to unlock it. It drained him to use the magic, but that didn't bother him.

The phone only rang once before it was answered. "_Lucy? You okay? I'm glad you called-_"

"It's not Lucy, it's Natsu."

There was a pause. "_Natsu, why do you have her phone? I know she locks it, how did you get it open?_"

"That doesn't matter right now."

"_What do you mean, it-_"

Natsu couldn't stop the growl that came out of his mouth. He managed to cut it off quickly, but he knew the other man had heard him. "Just don't worry about it right now, it's not important." His voice was lower and rougher than usual, but he couldn't do anything about it. "I need to talk to you."

There was a heavy pause. "_What do you need?_"

* * *

It was almost an hour after he called Loke that Natsu finally returned to the hallway. He worked his magic to open her door and return her phone, but before he could leave, her breathing changed. He paused in the doorway as he listened to her heartbeat speed up and her breaths change to short gasps. The anger in his system mixed with the fear that began to emanate from the woman in the bed, creating a volatile mix.

He was restless. He wanted to help, _needed_ to help, but he had to wait for Loke to get him more information before he could. He'd never been good at waiting around- he'd always been an action first, questions later kind of being. Fire began to lick its way up his arms, causing him to reach up to grasp his scarf. It always seemed to help him calm down, and he needed to do it quickly if he didn't want to wake Lucy up.

She began to mumble, her words hushed and frantic sounding. As Natsu watched, she began to thrash around, knocking her blanket off her chest. Her fear filled the air around her, thickening it. Natsu pulled his scarf over his nose, hoping the comforting smell would help him breathe more easily. As he adjusted the material, he suddenly had an idea.

He quickly unraveled his scarf from around his neck and moved towards the bed. Leaning over, he carefully wrapped the material around Lucy's neck twice, tucking one of the ends close to her face and spreading the other one along her body to help warm her clammy skin. After a while, her breathing seemed to even out as her movements slowed to a stop. Eventually she sighed and rolled onto her side, clutching the fabric of his scarf with both hands. Natsu grinned as he slowly pulled her blanket back over her body.

_Take that, Erza! I helped without punching anything!_ Natsu's eyes widened as he put his hands over his face. He had a bad habit of reaching out for her when he didn't mean to, even when he was just thinking to himself. If Erza came now, it would ruin everything! _I wasn't calling you! We're fine! Everything's fine! I didn't mean it!_ He waited with baited breath to see if he'd accidentally summoned her. When he was certain he hadn't, he tiptoed his way to the door and shut it behind him, careful to lock it without making a sound.

After he made it back to his room, he set an alarm so he could retrieve his scarf before Lucy woke up and went back to planning his trip with Lucy. He had some changes to make- specifically, the date that they would be leaving.


	19. Chapter 19

**As a head's up, I've realized it was premature for me to use up the Fairy Tail name on something as trivial as a publishing company. It never gets any screen (page?) time! It's a little cliche, but I've switched it so the bar that they get together at all the time is the FairyTail Bar.**

**Also, I have included what I think is a surprise visitor. I don't know that I've seen him in any of the AUs I've read before. I think he's a little difficult to add if Lucy doesn't have her spirits, but when the idea came to me last night, I **_**had**_ **to add him to the story. There was a gap between #18 and the chapter I was writing, so I decided to add in a chapter here before the next one.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy watched as Natsu rubbed his arm for the third time in- she glanced at the clock- eleven minutes. She'd noticed his fidgeting while she made them breakfast, and when asked, he'd told her he was fine. She still wasn't sure if she believed him. The last time he'd been so fidgety had been the morning after she'd been cornered by that nightmare demon. He'd claimed he was fine that morning, too, but it was so unlike him to fidget like he was. If he was bored, he'd get up and go do something, and if something was wrong, he'd usually be very vocal about it, which ultimately led to him whining at her to fix it. The silence was uncharacteristic and bothered her.

As she stood to clear off the table, she glanced at Happy. The little blue demon had been quiet all morning, which was also very unusual. What was even stranger was the fact that he'd spent most of that time staring at Natsu like he was some strange animal in a zoo that he was trying to decide how to feed without losing a hand. Lucy supposed she couldn't be too critical. She'd been awfully quiet, too, caught up in what she'd seen the night before. What she found even more strange, was how her dreams had been unaffected by the men she'd seen. She'd been having minor nightmares since her run-in on Halloween, so she'd been certain she would have worse nightmares after the previous night. Even now, thinking about it made her stomach clench. Those men were in town again, and depending on how long they stayed, they might find out she was still here. She couldn't imagine what they'd do if that happened.

She turned on the water to rinse off the dishes as she spoke. "So, how was your evening? Did you get any plans made? Maybe pick a date for our trip?"

Natsu snapped out of his thoughts as he turned her way. "Uh, yeah, I did. We're leaving the day after Thanksgiving, if that's okay?"

The plate in Lucy's hand slipped and fell back into the sink. "Shoot." She carefully checked the dishes to make sure none had broken. "You know the day after Thanksgiving is this Friday right?"

Natsu nodded, a pink tinge on his cheeks. "Yeah, sorry."

She sighed. "That's not much of a heads up. Do we have to leave so soon?"

"I managed to snag a few cheap tickets because of the time, so I thought it best to move up our departure date. Is it early enough you can still get off?"

Lucy grabbed a towel to dry her hands. "I'll talk to Mira as soon as I get to work and see what I can do."

"Sounds good." Natsu stood from the table and moved towards the door as shoes appeared on his feet. "I'll see you after work, Luce. I'm going to go out for a walk."

"Might want to put on a jacket," Lucy said. "It's chilly outside."

He smiled. "Half fire dragon, remember? I don't get cold."

Lucy stuck out her tongue. "Rub it in why don't you?"

With a small wave, Natsu headed out, closing the door carefully behind him.

"Alright, cat." Lucy rounded on Happy, who was still looking towards the front door. "Spill it, what's wrong?"

Happy turned towards his plate to finish the last of his fish. "Spill what?"

"Something is going on, and I want to know what it is."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Happy tossed the last of his fish in his mouth and brought his plate over to the sink. "Thank you for the food," he said, flying back towards his and Natsu's room.

Lucy scowled after the Exceed, but couldn't do anything else as she checked the time. "Damn it. They're demons, why am I worrying so much?" Before she could get caught up in her thoughts again, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, turned on her 'Jam' mix and headed for her room to get ready for the day.

* * *

Lucy was a twitchy mess by the time she made it to work. She'd pulled a hood over her head and even put on her sunglasses, despite the darkness, but she'd still felt uncomfortable every time she passed a person on the street. Even when she'd been sure it wasn't one of _them_, she had worried that they'd expanded their group and some new member would recognize her and grab her.

She didn't allow herself to relax until she was in her cubicle with the blinds closed. When she finally sat down, she removed her coat, scarf and gloves, careful not to mess up her hair. She'd curled it in an effort to give herself a little boost for the day, and she didn't want to mess up right away.

"Good morning everyone!" Mira's voice floated over the room as she arrived, greeting the early morning workers like she did every day. Lucy finished stowing her gear and then stood to go talk to her boss.

"Hey Mira, you got a minute?"

The white haired woman turned as she opened her office door. "Of course, Lucy. Come on in, I just have to take my jacket off."

They made small talk until Mira had put away her winter clothes and moved to sit at her desk. "Alright Lucy, what can I do for you?"

"Remember when I told you that I would be taking some time off during the next year so I could go travel with Natsu?"

"Of course."

"Well, I'd like to go along for his next trip, but he's moved the timeframe up a little."

"Oh? When would you be leaving?"

Lucy borrowed Natsu's words, flinching a little as she said them. "The day after Thanksgiving."

Mira sat back as she looked over at her calendar. "Hmm, that's not very much time at all, is it?"

"No…" Lucy focused on her hands to keep herself from picking at her ripped jeans. She was jittery enough she knew if she wasn't careful she'd easily pick them apart.

Mira continued to study her. "Lucy, I'd like to run an idea passed you."

Lucy blinked up at her boss. "Um, okay?"

"How often will your temporary roommate be travelling?"

"I'm not sure. I think his plan is to leave the state once a month, maybe more?"

Her boss nodded. "How would you feel about giving up your portion of the magazine for a while and doing something else?"

The blonde fought to keep her fingernails off her pants. "Am… am I being demoted?"

Mira waved off her concern. "Of course not, silly. I was just curious if you'd like to forego writing about clothes for a few months and instead write about your travels with your friend." She giggled at Lucy as her mouth fell open and she continued to stare.

"You want me to write about travelling?"

"Yes. I think it could be fun for the magazine to have a travelling article. Laxus thinks so, too- I've already spoken with him. If you agree, then I will approve your late request. Also, for the time being, as long as I have at least a day's notice, I will accept your other late time off requests. Does that seem fair?"

Lucy didn't even hesitate. "Yes! Yes, Mira, that's amazing! I'd love to write about our trips. I can't believe I didn't think about it first!"

Mira laughed. "I'm glad you approve. In the meantime, I have an intern coming in that will be helping with your portion of the magazine. I hope you will be able to help her in your spare time, but it will be primarily up to her to complete the clothes section. Is that acceptable?"

"I can absolutely help, no problem." She quickly stood and moved to shake her boss's hand. "You won't regret this, I promise."

"I'm sure I won't. Now get to work. You have work to finish before Thursday."

"You got it." Lucy hurried to her desk, energy at an all time high as she started up her computer and got to work on her last few pages. She wouldn't let a shorter deadline stop her from finishing on time.

* * *

Lucy looked at the cart, going over the list in her hand once more. "...and skis. That's it!" She turned her cart and headed for the front of the store. She'd spent all of the previous day and most of the morning finishing up her work. When she'd told Mira at lunch time that she'd finished, her boss had allowed her to leave early so she could make sure she had everything she needed for her trip. With the following day being Thanksgiving, she only had the afternoon to shop.

As she made her way out of the aisle, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end again. She paused next to the display she was passing, using it as a reason to look behind her. Yep, there he was. There was a creepy looking older gentleman watching her from a few aisles over, also hiding his glances by pretending to look at a display. Lucy had noticed him when she first entered the store. He'd entered before her, holding the door open for her. Since then, she'd caught him several times watching her.

She turned again to make her way towards the registers. She spent the time walking and then standing in line considering the chances that the man was working with _them_. There were still three people in front of her when there was a tap on her shoulder, which made her jump.

Turning, she found a tall, very muscular man carrying a set of weights under one arm. He we wearing a pair of black jersey shorts, a white tank and a backwards ballcap with a blotchy white and black pattern that looked like a cow. He smiled, causing the golden hoop in his septum to catch the light. "Hi."

"Uh, hello."

He leaned down a little bit so that he could whisper to her. "I don't wanna scare you or anything, but there's a guy standing over near the door that looks like he's been following you around."

Lucy blinked up at him with surprise. "I actually noticed him a while ago."

He poked himself in the chest. "I'd be mooore than willing to walk you to your car if you want, to make sure you get there okay."

She glanced across the store worriedly. "Do you think he'd follow me? I just thought he was staring because, well…" She blushed and kind of gestured down at herself.

"Having a rocking body is no reason for him to be loooking at you like he is."

Lucy didn't respond to his compliment, or the way he elongated some of his words. He seemed sincere, and for some reason she couldn't put her finger on, she trusted that he was. She smiled up at him as she said, "I think I'd appreciate the company, thanks. My name's Lucy," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

He took her hand in his large one and carefully shook it. "It's nice to meet you Luuucy, my friends call me Stier."

"It's nice to meet you, Stier." As they chatted, Lucy felt more of her tension melt away. For some reason, she felt extremely at ease with the muscular man at her side. While his appearance gave the impression that he was just another dudebro, it was obvious as she spoke with him that he cared about more than just his physical appearance.

As he paid for his weights, she waited for him to join her again before making her way to the parking lot. "You know, I was just thinking, those might not be enough for you," she said, gesturing at his purchase.

"Why dooo you say that?" he asked.

"You held those under one arm the entire time we were in line and it doesn't look like it was even a struggle for you. You might need some bigger ones."

He laughed as they made it to her car. "Yooou may be right, but these aren't just for me."

She unlocked the back of her car and he held onto her cart as she unloaded her purchases into the trunk. "Is he still around?" she asked quietly.

He leaned against her car, casually looking around the parking lot as she worked on putting down her backseat. "He came out, but he's sitting on the bench near the door. Don't worry," he said. "I snuck the cashier a note before we left so he has a heads up without alerting the guy. I'm suuure someone will come out and take care of him."

When Lucy pulled herself back out of her trunk, she was almost certain she saw Stier looking away from where she'd been bent over. They chatted a little longer, even after she was done packing up her car. About ten minutes after they exited the store, a man in a buttoned shirt and slacks came out to speak to the man sitting on the bench. After a while, the man stood and hastily made his way away from the building.

Lucy smiled as she finally opened her door to leave. "Hey, if you want, my friends and I like to hang out at the FairyTail Bar on Fridays. Maybe you could join us some time and I could buy you a beer as thanks for helping me out."

"I'm usually busy on Fridays, but maybe I could mooove some things around and come visit sooon."

Lucy smiled. "Let me know if you ever get the chance. I'm always with my friends, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind you joining us. I know for sure Cana wouldn't. She's always looking for fresh meat."

The man blinked at her in surprise. "What?"

Lucy grinned. "She likes to outdrink anyone she meets." She looked him up and down. "You're a big guy, you might be able to give her a run for her money."

He chuckled as his expression relaxed. "I've never been part of a drinking contest before, but I'll try anything once."

"She'll appreciate that, but you're under no obligation. I'm serious when I say she could outdrink an entire bar crowd of people."

Stier laughed. "I guess we'll have to see. In the meantime, you have a goood day, Luuucy."

"Thanks Stier, you too." Lucy waved at him as she got into her car. As he turned away, he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. On the ring, she noticed a rather large keychain that looked like an axe. As he unlocked his truck, which was parked only a few spots from her, she pulled out of her space and drove passed him, waving again. He honked his horn in response as she smiled and left the parking lot.

When she arrived home, she grabbed most of her things and headed into her apartment. As she unlocked the door, Plue came to the door to great her. "Hey little guy. I need some space here, I've got bags to bring in."

"Want help?" came Natsu's voice from farther in the apartment.

Lucy scooted her cat towards the kitchen with her foot as she shut the door behind her. "Sure, that'd be great. The skis are a little unwieldy. It's only them and one other bag." Natsu appeared in the entryway as she finished taking off her shoes, sliding past her and out the door.

As Lucy took her bags back to her room, she noticed that Happy was missing. She knocked on Natsu's door as she passed by and called to him. When there was no response from inside, she went to her room to drop off her bags. Natsu appeared as she finished unloading the first bag. "Here you go," he said, grinning as he set the rest of her purchases on her bed. "So, have a good day? You looked pretty shot when you got home last night, so I didn't wanna bother you."

"Yeah, Mira approved my time off, but that moved up my deadline so I had to stay late to make sure I got my work finished. I got it done by lunch so I'm all set to go on Friday."

Natsu pumped his fist in front of him. "That's great! I'm all fired up now! This is going to be a great trip!"

"I hope so. It's been a while since I went skiing. Oh, there was something else Mira talked to me about." She explained to Natsu the deal she'd made with her boss. Mira had even come to find Lucy before she left to inform her that the magazine would would reimburse her for some of her expenses from the trip. Natsu lit up even more as at the prospect of using his trips to help her career.

"Oh man, now I have to plan even more epic adventures so you have something awesome to write about! You know, I read something about how there were people who went over Niagra Falls in a barrel-"

"Absolutely not," Lucy said, crossing her arms in front of her body. "No way are we doing that."

"Ah come on, Luce, it'll be fun! And it's not like it'll kill me."

"No. I'm pretty sure you couldn't get away with it anyway. We are definitely _not_ doing that."

"Fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms.

Lucy studied him for a while. "How was your and Happy's day? I haven't seen him since yesterday morning."

"He's grumpy with me and won't tell me what's wrong, so he's been in our room all day. My days were pretty much normal. I finalized some reservations, so we're set to leave on Friday."

"That's great. I'm excited to go."

"Me, too." He glanced down at the bags on her bed. "I'll let you unpack your bags in peace and go get started on supper," he said moving back towards her door. "Any requests?"

"Whatever you wanna make is fine with me," she said.

He grinned. "Fish it is!" He ignored her shout as he hurried out of her room.

"Wait, Natsu! You know I don't like fish!" As Lucy hurried past the other bedroom door, she didn't see that it was cracked open, or that Happy stood on the other side of the door watching them as they ran past. The Exceed sighed as he thought again about what he needed to do. Despite knowing Natsu and Lucy wouldn't hear him over the noise they were making in the other room, he quietly closed the door.

He didn't like it, but he had to do it for Natsu's sake. Even if he didn't want to, Natsu was his best friend, and he was going to do whatever he could make his best friend happy. Needing some time to think, Happy propped open their window and hopped out to go for a walk, leaving the demon and human in the kitchen unaware of his absence as they continued to argue and laugh in the kitchen.

* * *

**Stier = Taurus, in case that wasn't obvious. I know I made him act a little different (he totally checked out her butt), but a person who acts like the real Taurus would only get a Lucy Kick. Who'd like to see him again?**


	20. Chapter 20

**I have no idea what happened here. I know I wrote it, but I must have been half asleep, because when I was editing it, I was **_**surprised**_ **by things that happened. I even think it's pretty good, so I might have to let half-asleep me take over more often. This is my favorite part yet.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Wait, you're leaving _tomorrow?_" Levy paused, the plate in her hand only halfway on the table.

Lucy nodded as she set down another glass. "Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't want to make a fuss."

"Why are you leaving so soon?"

Lucy shrugged. "Natsu said he found cheap tickets. I actually prefer it this way. His original plan was going to bring us back home the day before our Christmas party. This way, I'll get time to settle back in at home and shake off the jetlag, if I have any."

Her friend sighed as she set out the last plate. "If you say so. I was kind of hoping I could convince you to come to my family's celebration next week. My mom's in another one of her 'you need to get married soon and have babies' kicks."

Lucy grinned. "Were you going to bring me as a fellow single friend, to take the heat off, or as a girlfriend, to turn the heat up?"

Levy stuck her tongue out at her friend and they both laughed. Natsu joined them, a stack of napkins in his hand. "Luce, I don't know if I did this right. They only mostly look like the one you did."

Lucy sighed as she took the pile of poorly folded napkins. "Come on, I'll do them with you. Your first one was passable, I'll just walk you through it again." As they got started, there was a knock as her front door was opened.

"Hey guys!" Loke shut the door behind him before setting two cases of beer on the kitchen floor.

"I'll help you with those," Levy said as she grabbed the wine bottles from his hands. "I'll stick these in the fridge. Lucy, do you have enough fridge space for the beer, or are we putting that on the porch?"

"Porch," Lucy answered. "Natsu, you folded the wrong corner."

Loke followed Levy with the beer as she moved through the living room to open the door for him. "Ooo, someone's getting fancy this year."

"Shut it, Loke," Lucy said as fixed Natsu's napkin. "There's nothing wrong with wanting everything to look nice."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Trying to impress someone, are you? You know you always impress me, you don't have to try this hard." Laughing, he dodged the napkin that was thrown at him as he set the cases in his hands outside. Levy picked up the napkin from the floor and hit Loke with it, making Lucy smile and thank her.

Natsu shouted in triumph as he finished his first napkin. "Ha! How's this one, Luce? Perfect, right?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him as she added his to the pile. "It's better than your other ones, that's for sure."

"Mind if I try?" Loke asked.

"Sure." Lucy handed one of the napkins to her friend and showed him how to fold it. Natsu's second one was passable again, but Loke's was very well done. "That looks great! It's almost better than mine."

"No way! I'm not gonna let some orange haired weirdo outdo me!" Natsu focused hard on the napkin in front of him as he bent over it and started to fold. His tongue stuck out slightly from between his teeth as he carefully executed the folds he'd been shown.

Lucy smiled as she watched Loke get equally serious about his folding. "Wow guys, they're just napkins, no need to get so-"

Natsu cut her off. "This is a competition, Luce, and I'm gonna _win_."

Loke snorted. "In your dreams. Mine was amazing and yours looked like it was done by a three year old." When Natsu's only response was a growl, Lucy put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it to calm him down.

The front door suddenly flew open. A rush of cold air was followed by Cana's greetings as she entered and placed her dish on the kitchen table. "Here you go, kids. Hopefully it doesn't kill ya."

Levy sighed as she walked towards the door. "You could have closed this behind you."

"Needed two hands, dollface." Cana pulled out a flash from her jacket and took a quick swig before joining the party in the living room. "Ooo, what's going on in here? Getting fancy this year, huh Lucy? Oooo, are those new napkins?"

Lucy half glared at her friend. "Quiet you. Since it's a bigger group this year, I thought it'd be nice to try a little harder to make everything look good. These two are just helping me-"

"Done!" Natsu held his napkin up in triumph. "Beat that, Loke!"

The other man smirked as he fixed his glasses and held his up. "I think that I did."

"Luce?" Natsu held his napkin out to her. "Mine's better, right?"

"You'll have to let me see them to figure it out." She took both napkins and pulled them towards herself. After she studied them for a little bit, she looked up at Loke with a small smile. "Sorry, but Natsu's is better."

"What?!" Loke shouted as Natsu whooped. "How?"

Lucy showed him the back of his napkin. "You folded it inside out so the tag is exposed."

"Yeah, I won! Suck it, Loke!"

Loke scoffed. "Whatever. It's only napkin folding."

Natsu's eyes narrowed. "What, do you wanna take me on doing something else? I'll beat you any time, any place."

"Alright kids," Cana said as she set down two wine glasses on the table. "Take a drink and calm down. You don't wanna mess up Lucy's pretty table before the others get here."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her friend, but thanked her for the help. "No problem, lady." Cana winked at her. "I don't know who you're trying to impress, but I got your back."

The blonde groaned, "I'm not trying to impress anyone! What is wrong with you people?" A knock at the door caused Lucy to leave them as they threw out their answers.

"I'm not drunk enough," Cana said.

Levy piped up, "I wish I was reading instead of cooking."

"I'm between girlfriends," was Loke's answer.

Natsu grinned as he pat his stomach. "I'm starving!"

"Talk to Loke about it," Lucy called from the entryway. "He was in charge of snacks." She heard Loke speak and then some rustling from somewhere as she opened the door.

Gray smiled as he waved at her. "Hey Lucy. Thanks for the invite!" As he entered he gestured over his shoulder. "This is my brother, Lyon. I know you guys have seen him, but haven't officially met yet. Lyon, this is Lucy."

The white haired man smiled and held out his hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Lucy. I appreciate you extending an invitation for the holidays to Gray and me. I was not looking forward to another of his attempts at a Thanksgiving meal."

"Oh shut up," Gray said as he took off his shoes. "I'm not that bad."

Lyon continued to look at Lucy as he spoke. "No matter what he does, every year the food turns out cold. The turkey is always raw, and the potatoes are like icicles. It's like he's _trying_ to kill me."

"My life might be easier if I did," Gray grumbled.

"Don't mind him, he's just grumpy because he's hungry," Lyon said.

Gray growled. "I am not a child, quit acting like you're better than me."

Lucy only smiled, used to their type of banter. "We'll be eating soon. We're only waiting for a couple more people to show up. How about I introduce you to the others?"

Lyon smiled. "That would be wonderful." Gray scowled as he followed the pair through the kitchen. He stayed behind to talk to Levy as Lucy led Lyon to the living room and quickly introduced him to everyone.

Lucy was surprised to find nuts, pickles and buns being set out on the table. "Where were you hiding those, Loke? I didn't see you bring in a bag with you."

He grinned as he held out his hands. "I'm magic!"

"Uh huh, sure." She bit into a pickle as she turned to Lyon. "So, tell us about yourself! We've gotten to know Gray a little bit, but it seems like you're usually too busy to come have a drink with us." Lyon smiled and took a seat as he spoke, ignoring the glares coming from the kitchen.

"You okay?" Levy asked Gray. She stuck a fork into the potatoes in the pot on the stove.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a little fight with Lyon before we left. If I hadn't already invited him, I would have left him behind."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Nah, it's nothing important. I'll be fine." Gray smiled, but his eyes remained flat.

"Well, if you want a drink, there's wine in the fridge and beer on the porch."

Gray glanced towards the sliding door, where Cana was leaning out, opening one of the cases. "I think I'll take you up on that. Thanks."

When he made it the porch, Cana had the door open and a few beers in her hands. "You need one of these?" she asked.

"If you're offering, sure."

Cana gestured at his torso. "I'll grab you a can once you put your shirt back on."

Gray looked down and cursed as he started fixing the buttons on his shirt. "Sorry."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "That happen a lot?"

"Not as much as it used to. It's just a thing I do when I'm stressed or worked up."

Cana gave him a sultry smile. "Worked up, you say?"

"Hands to yourself, Cana! Don't make me cut you off already!" Lucy came to stand by Gray, gesturing at the four cans in her hands. "Do you really need so many? You haven't even eaten anything yet."

"They're not all for me." She leaned forward to put one in Gray's hand. "This one is for him," she purred.

"Cana, seriously, chill out, or I'll get Natsu to dunk you in the pond."

"Who do I get to dunk in the pond?" Natsu asked excitedly.

Cana sighed. "You're no fun at holiday gatherings."

Lucy smiled as she threw her arm around her friend. "Come on, you can come hit on me while Lyon tells us more about growing up with our dear friend Gray."

"Oh no he won't," Gray said, skirting passed them to get to the table.

Cana squinted at Lucy. "What was that about?"

Lucy squeezed her shoulder. "Juvia seems like she really likes him. Give her a chance before you try to make Gray a notch in your bedpost, okay?"

"Ugh, I hate when you're all reasonable. _Fine_, but no more of this 'cutting me off' nonsense today."

"Deal." As the pair moved to join the table, another person entered Lucy's apartment without knocking. Glancing around, Lucy did a quick search. "I think that's Juvia. I don't think Gajeel would just waltz in."

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone!" Juvia brought her food towards the oven. "Do you mind if I put this in to warm it up a little bit?"

"Sure," Levy said. She opened the door and moved the turkey over, allowing enough space for the other pan to be added. "It smells amazing Juvia!"

Juvia fiddled with her dress as she blushed. "Juvia hopes so. She tried very hard on it."

Lucy gave Cana a quick look as she moved into the kitchen. "Are the potatoes done, Levy?"

"I think so, they just need to be-" She was cut off by a loud knock at the door.

Lucy took a step, "That should be-"

"I'll get it!" Levy yelled, darting passed Lucy to get the door.

The blonde blinked. "I guess I'll let you get that." As she moved towards the stove, she heard a low voice at the front door, confirming that Gajeel had joined them. She drained the potatoes then moved them back to the stove so she could gather her other ingredients. When she opened her spice cupboard, she glared as she saw the garlic was too high for her to reach. She grumbled a little, trying to decide if she should call for Natsu or just hop up on the counter. The dress she was wearing wasn't designed for hopping, so she decided to call for Natsu. As she turned, she bumped her nose into a warm chest. She bounced backwards into the counter and brought her hands up to catch herself before she bounce off the person in front of her again. She quickly removed her hands from his chest as she looked up at Natsu.

She hoped the heat from the kitchen was enough of an explanation for how warm her cheeks felt. He was so close, and ever since the day at the grocery store, she'd had trouble being so close to him without having… _thoughts_.

"Need help?" he asked, oblivious to her discomfort.

She nodded and kept her eyes from meeting his as she stepped away. "Yeah. You put the garlic up too high."

"Whoops, sorry about that." He reached passed her to pull it down. "Anything else?"

Lucy looked up and pulled a few more bottles down. "No, just that one. Thank you."

"No problem." Natsu leaned forward to whisper in her ear. He was so close that his lips brushed against her ear a couple times as he whispered to her. "Hey, I have to step outside for a bit. Erza needs to talk to me, and I don't want her to show up and freak your friends out. I shouldn't be gone long."

His words only increased the pace of her heart. "Okay. Let me know if anything is wrong."

He grinned as he pulled back. "Will do." He nodded a hello to Gajeel as he went passed them and out the front door.

Levy frowned as she watched Natsu leave. "Where is he going?"

Lucy went to grab the milk from the fridge. "He's just stepping out. He said it's getting a little stuffy in here."

Gajeel grunted. "I can understand that." He craned his head a little bit as he looked into the living room. "Hey Bunny Girl, the drunk here yet?"

"Bunny Girl?" she asked.

"Deal with it," he said, no remorse on his face as he turned to Levy. "She here, Shrimp?"

Levy sighed as she responded. "Yes, but try to wait until _after_ dinner to start anything, okay?"

"No promises," he said as he walked forward. "Hey Lyon! I thought you weren't comin'?"

Lucy and Levy shared a look. "It'll be okay," Lucy said as she turned back to the potatoes. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Levy knocked on the kitchen table before leaving her friend to mix up her potatoes. "Two years ago."

Lucy gulped as she remembered that particular Thanksgiving. After a few seconds, she shuddered and moved to knock on the table herself before getting back to her potatoes. She _really_ didn't want a repeat of that day.

* * *

Natsu glanced around again as he entered the alley a block from Lucy's place. Once he was far enough in, he held his hands out to create a barrier that would hide him and Erza from sight. When he was sure it was set, he called out to her. Almost instantly, there was a blast of heat and the red haired demon stood before him.

"Hello Erza, what's-"

"Enough small talk, Natsu," Erza said, cutting him off. "We need to talk."

Natsu flinched. Although he was certain he'd been behaving during his time in the human world, Erza was obviously mad at him about something. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Happy reached out to me."

Natsu blinked at her. "Happy? Why?"

Erza crossed her arms. "He told me what you've been doing with your scarf."

He scowled. "What does it matter?"

She frowned. "He told me you've been more irritable and twitchy since it started. Why are you so insistent on letting the human wear your scarf when you know what could happen if you go without it too long?"

"She only has it for, like, seven hours a night. Nothing bad is-"

"Natsu." Her tone left no room for argument, causing him to bite his tongue in an effort to remain silent. "You remember what happened a few decades ago? When your scarf was taken and we weren't able to find it right away?"

She watched his skin pale as he turned away, regret written all over his features. When he said nothing, she continued. "You know we can't let that happen again. We most certainly can't let it happen while you're here in the human world."

"I'm just trying to keep my summoner happy. Happy summoner-"

"Happy demon," she finished. "I know, but this is different. If you get out of control again, you could hurt her, and many other humans. It would be even more difficult to contain you here than it was at home. Even after we did, you'd no doubt be punished, and I don't want to see that happen. Do you understand Natsu?"

He grimaced by he nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

"If you wanna help her with her nightmares, use your magic, but you _keep your scarf on_. Got it?"

He clenched his jaw as he nodded. "I understand, Erza."

"Good. Now go celebrate with your friends. Happy told me you were having company. I don't want to keep you." She raised a hand, but before she could leave, she looked at Natsu again. "Also, talk to Happy. He has some concerns about what's happening that I think should be addressed, but I'm not the one you need to talk to about it."

Natsu nodded and then watched as she disappeared from sight. After looking around again, he dropped the barrier he'd erected and started walking back towards Lucy's. As he walked, he fiddled with his scarf and considered Erza's words. He wasn't sure he could properly cast the spells required to help Lucy, and if he wasn't allowed to use the scarf, he wasn't sure he'd be able to help her anymore. As he made it to the door, he pushed all his thoughts to the back of his mind and put on a smile.

Lucy had gone through a lot of trouble to plan the get together with her friends, and he wasn't going to ruin that for her. As he opened the door, he allowed himself one more thought before focusing on the celebration.

_What concerns did Happy have that he'd mention to Erza of all people?_

* * *

**What **_**is**_ **that flying blue troublemaker up to I wonder?**


	21. Chapter 21

**Apologies for the delay in updates. I had a rough weekend of being sick, and then still being exhausted and sick while getting our house ready for our son's first birthday, and while I am still exhausted, I managed to get my brain to cooperate long enough to finish the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy!**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait," Gray said. "You dumped _what_ into the lake?"

Lucy and Cana were laughing too hard to answer, and Juvia was hiding her cherry red face behind her hands, so Levy was forced to defend her actions on her own. "Well, she kept making fun of my boyfriend, and I _warned_ her that if she didn't stop, I was going to throw her underwear into the lake."

"And then," Lucy gasped, "Juvia _forgot_-"

"So Levy- left dinner- after she made fun of his glasses-" Cana continued around more laughter.

"_And threw her underwear into the lake before group swim time!_" Lucy finished, falling into Cana as they continued to laugh.

Juvia spoke up. "I didn't make fun of his glasses, though!"

Levy scoffed. "You said they made him look like that weirdo from the show we used to make fun of as kids!"

"He said he liked that show!" Juvia tried to defend herself. "I thought I was being nice!"

Levy picked up her fork. "At any rate, they were floating around in the swim area when everyone came out and instead of admitting that they were hers, Juvia was too embarrassed and just spent the last three days of camp wearing the same pair." By this point, Gajeel and Natsu were laughing almost as hard as the girls, while both Gray and Lyon only chuckled along. Loke, having heard about the incident more than once, merely smiled.

"Actually, that's not true," Cana said as she caught her breath and went back to eating.

"What do you mean?" Levy asked.

Lucy glared at Cana. "Really? Did you suddenly grow a conscious?" Cana laughed.

"What are you guys hiding from me?" Levy asked.

Lucy sighed. "I stole Juvia's clothes from the lost and found and gave them back to her." Levy's mouth fell open, making Lucy snorted. "Your camp boy toy was a dink, and you know it. I wasn't going to let Juvia suffer because he was a pansy."

"You betrayed me?" Levy asked in a whisper.

"Hardly," Lucy said. "You still embarrassed her. I just got Cana to help me make a diversion so I could swipe her clothes back and return them to Juvia. Which was supposed to be a secret we took to our grave," Lucy growled at Cana, who's eyes were wide.

"Whoops," she said, putting down the bottle of wine she was drinking from. "I forgot."

Levy studied her friends, mouth opening and closing like a fish, as the others at the table laughed. Eventually the laughter subsided and Levy let out a long sigh. "I guess I don't blame you for not telling me." Levy stabbed her food. "He was kind of a pansy."

Lucy nodded. "Honestly, we would have told you sooner, but we still remember what happened to Nash when he interfered in one of your punishments."

"That was a _fun_ camp year," Cana said with a smile.

"It was terrifying," Juvia argued.

"It wasn't boring," Lucy added. Gray, Lyon, Natsu and Gajeel all asked what happened, but the girls refused to share their secret. Lucy said, "Sorry guys, but that's a camp secret. If you wanna know, you'll have to go yourself. Last time we volunteered there, we _still_ heard the tale being told. Levy's a legend there."

Levy merely grinned as she continued to eat. The remainder of the meal was fairly mellow, once the girls agreed to not talk about their other embarrassing stories at the dinner table. Later, once everyone but Natsu, who was finishing up most of the dishes, was done eating, Levy finally spoke again. "So, any ideas for what we're going to do now that we're done eating?"

Lucy smirked in Natsu's direction. "Well, we could play-"

"NO MONOPOLY!" he yelled, his mouth half full of food. He squinted at Lucy as she opened her mouth again. "Don't even think about it, lady."

The others laughed. "What's the matter?" Gray asked with a smirk. "Did she kicked your ass, hothead?"

Natsu refused to answer as he returned to his food. Lucy merely smiled. "Alright, that's one game ruled out. Any other requests or vetos?"

"Oooo, what about a trivia game?"

Juvia, Cana and Loke unanimously said, "Pass."

"Why?" Lyon asked.

Juvia pointed at the shorter woman, who was pouting now. "She always wins. No one else stands a chance."

"You guys could win if you'd just expanded your horizons a little," Levy grumbled.

"What about cards?" Lucy suggested.

"Do you have enough for how many people we have?" Loke asked. "We'd probably need at least a second, if not third, deck."

"Maybe…"

Gray, who had been leaning back to see her game shelf, sat up. "What about Pictionary?"

"Juvia thinks that's a great idea," the woman gushed.

"I'd play that," Cana said. Most of the others agreed, although Gajeel's grunt could have gone either way.

Natsu, having finally finished up the pie, got up and stood in the doorway to the kitchen as he watched Lucy go to grab the game. "What's Pictionary?"

Levy answered him as she stretched out her arms. "It's a game where teams try to be the first to guess what someone is trying to draw so they can advance on the board."

As the others started to pick teams, Natsu sidled up to Lucy. "I'm going to be very bad at this game."

She smiled up at him. "I'm actually really good at this game. Be on my team, it won't matter."

"I'm on Lucy's team!" he yelled.

"Me too!" Cana cheered. "We can do teams of three. The rest of you sort yourselves out."

"I'll be on Gray's team, so he stands a chance," Lyon said.

Gray glared. "What are you talking about? I'm _way_ better at drawing than you are."

Gajeel grunted. "So does that mean-"

"Juvia wants to be on Gray's team as well!" Juvia gave Gajeel a small smile. "If that's okay? Then the boys can be spread out a bit."

Levy slid over next to Gajeel. "Gajeel can be with Loke and me."

"I think everyone is grouped up then," Lucy said. "We should probably move around a little so we can be with our teams."

As they were adjusting, Gray suddenly took a step back from the others. "Hold on a minute, how the hell did _pinky_ end up as the only solo guy?"

Cana gave Gray a smirk. "Jealous?"

Lucy lightly smacked her shoulder before smiling at Gray. "I'm just popular, I guess."

Cana continued to smirk. "We just wanna be on the winning team."

Gray grinned in return. "Then I'm afraid you've chosen the wrong side."

"Juvia believes Gray will carry us to victory," Juvia said with conviction.

Loke chuckled as he stood. "Are we using the boards, Lucy?" When she nodded, he offered to help her carry them out. A few minutes later, all the teams were spread out with one large dry erase board in front of them. Natsu, brow furrowed, was holding onto Lucy's wrist as he dug around in her memory for any weird phrases or items he hadn't learned from her yet so he would be able to help. Cana, Lyon, and Loke had offered to draw first for their teams.

"Are we using the cards that came with it, or the other ones?" Cana asked.

"We should use the ones from the game," Lucy said. "Natsu, Gray, Lyon and Gajeel won't understand the other ones."

"What other ones?" Gajeel asked.

"We made some of our own," Levy answered him, "but they're all inside jokes and references to stuff we did together in the past."

"Original cards it is!" Cana pulled a card out from the box and held it out for the other two. "Yellow one, ladies." Lyon gave her a small glare but didn't say anything as both he and Loke nodded. Lucy counted down, and they all started drawing.

"Pool."

"Pit."

"Circle."

"Yellow is person, place, or animal, Gajeel."

"Cake."

"Seriously?"

A dozen answers later, Natsu finally spoke up. "Putting green."

"Ding ding ding!" Cana said. "Point for Team Lucy!"

Lucy squinted at Natsu. "How did you get that?"

He smiled at her. "Isn't it obvious? It looks just like a golf course, and it's where the hole is. She even drew in the flag."

"I suppose…" Lucy leaned towards him as the first three cleaned off the board. "Do demons play golf?" she whispered.

"Nope."

"Dragons?"

"Nope."

"Then how-"

"Isn't it your turn to draw?"

Before she could respond, Cana was sticking her marker in Lucy's face. "Here you are, captain. It's your turn."

Lucy continued to give Natsu a strange look as she stood. "Yeah, alright." She grabbed a new card as she joined Levy and Gray. "You guys ready?"

Gray grinned. "I'm totally ready to win. Let's do this!"

Levy smiled. "This is going to be interesting, I think. I have a feeling you're not going to be the one carrying the winning team, Lu."

Lucy glanced at Natsu, who was smiling serenely at her. "For some reason, I think you may be right," she murmured.

* * *

"_Mutiny?_ How were we supposed to get _mutiny_ from _that?_" Gajeel yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Loke yelled back as he looked at his drawing. "It's a pirate ship and the crew is tossing the captain overboard! How did you _not_ get it?!"

"_In what world is that thing a ship?!"_

* * *

"How?" Levy whispered.

"Seriously, that's the worst drawing I've ever seen," Lyon added. "How did you get that?"

Natsu shrugged. "She looks embarrassed to me."

Cana laughed as she erased the scribbles on her board. "Get on our level kids!"

* * *

"No."

"Nope."

"No way."

"Uh-uh."

"Don't believe it."

"Yeah, no way."

Lucy frowned as the others. "What are you guys talking about? He got it right! That means we get the point!"

"There's no way you didn't cheat that somehow," Gray said.

Cana leaned just a little too close to Gray as she pointed her finger in his face. "You're just jealous we're winning."

Gray gestured at Lucy's drawing. "Seriously, you don't think it's fishy that he managed to get _beatnik_ out of that? What even _is_ a beatnik?"

"A young person in the 1950s and early 1960s belonging to a subculture associated with the beat generation." Levy blinked a few times as people gave her incredulous looks. "What? I know things…"

"Well, I don't buy it," Gray said.

"Fine, we won't take that point," Lucy said as she erased her board. "Let's just move on."

* * *

"Alright, that's it." Gajeel set down his marker. "I'm done. I don't know how you guys are doing it, but it can't be legal. None of us stand a chance."

"Not with you drawing like that," Loke mumbled, earning him an elbow from Levy.

"Guess that means we win!" Cana raised her beer. "Good work everyone! I believed in all of you equally."

"Cana, I think it might be time to go home," Lucy said.

"Hey!" Cana stuck her finger in Lucy's chest. "You promised you wouldn't-"

"I'm not cutting you off," Lucy said. "I'm saying go home and drink your own booze. You've already finished all the stuff Loke brought and you've almost finished the last of what I had in my fridge."

"Well I had fun," Levy said as she stood and moved to clean off her team's board. Most of the others grumbled as they rose and began to clean up their cups and cans.

"Except for that devastating defeat at the hands of Team Lucy, this was an enjoyable evening," Lyon said. "Thank you again for inviting us, and next time you have a gathering here, I'd love to attend, if that is alright with you, Lucy."

Lucy smiled as she shook the offered hand. "Of course! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

"How'd you do it, hothead?"

Lucy turned to see Gray staring down at Natsu with his hands on his hips. Natsu was leaning comfortably back against the couch with his arms and legs folded. "I don't know what you mean, droopy eyes. I guess I'm just better at the game than you are."

"Not likely."

"Hey Natsu, can you come help me?" Lucy asked as she separated from Lyon. "I could use a hand putting these away," she said as she started grabbing the white boards.

"Sure thing," he said, his eyes never leaving Gray's as he stood up.

As most of the guests began to say their goodbyes, Lucy took a moment to give them her farewells and thank them for coming before leading Natsu back towards her bedroom. After the boards were put away, Lucy caught Natsu before he could leave and pushed him against the wall with a hand on his chest. "Alright, out with it."

"Out with what?"

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?" he asked innocently.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Seriously, words like beatnik and paddy wagon haven't been used in years. How did you even find those in my memory?"

Natsu's grin widened. "I think if you think about it a little bit, you'll figure it out."

"Natsu, so help me, if you don't tell me right now…"

The half demon flinched as Lucy glared at him. She really was scary when she wanted to be. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you."

Lucy took her hand back and crossed her arms. He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was looking at the other times you've played the game to get an idea of how the game worked, and I found the first memory you have of opening the game. You were with Levy and Juvia and you guys-"

"Went through all the cards," Lucy finished for him. With Natsu's ability to see the memory exactly as it was, he would have been able to see all the cards in the box. Then she groaned. "Natsu, that is obviously cheating!"

"That's not cheating! I was utilizing all of our resources. Besides, we beat Gray, and that's what's most important."

"Natsu, you can't do that again," she scolded. "I know you let the other teams get a few points, but you still cheated and we destroyed them. That's no fun and it's not how I want to win a game. Promise me you won't do that again."

"What about-"

"No. Cheating. Promise me," Lucy demanded.

He crossed his arms as he grumbled. "I still don't think it's cheating."

"Natsu!"

"Fine!" He threw his hands in the air. "I won't use my impressive abilities to their fullest potential to win at any more games against your friends and the boy band."

Lucy sighed. "They're not a boy band, and I like to think that they are also my friends."

"Sure. Whatever." Natsu was obviously grumpy, but Lucy didn't feel bad in the slightest. "I'm going to bed," he grumbled as he left. "We have an early morning."

"I'll see you bright and early then." When his door shut behind him, she let out a long sigh. Natsu was a handful some days, but she wasn't going to let it get to her. She smiled as she made her way towards the kitchen. She could hear that not everyone had left, which meant she had goodbyes to say before she could clean up the last of the dishes. Excitement thrummed through her as she made her way to the kitchen. Their plane was leaving before the sun rose the following day and she was very much looking forward to getting away. Nothing was going to spoil her trip away, she was sure of it.


	22. Chapter 22

**I honestly don't know how long it's been. Little man is in the middle of a clingy phase and feels the need to help me anytime I have my laptop out so it's been slow going for me.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Okay, so I have a question." Lucy paused, fork inches from her mouth. "Well, actually, I have a couple questions."

Natsu didn't respond, merely gestured at her to continue as he continued to eat his ribs. Lucy was glad to see that he was remembering to leave his bones behind this time. "This might not be the best time to bring it up, but I'll forget if I don't ask now. Do you get sick in _all_ forms of transportation?"

Natsu froze as his face paled. He audibly choked down the last of the food in his mouth, hand held in front of his face as he tried not to gag. "Is now _really_ when you," he gagged, "you need to know?"

"No, but I've been curious, and I keep forgetting to ask. Do you know that there are medicines you could try that help people with motion sickness? Have you tried them?"

As he continued to focus on the table, Natsu had to swallow several times before he could speak again. "I did not know, but they are made for humans and probably wouldn't work for me. No, I have not tried them."

Lucy cocked her head. "Even the thought of transportation makes you sick, right?" He nodded, both hands now held in front of his mouth. "Just one more question then. How were you able to use the car piece when we played Monopoly?"

Natsu took a drink of his water as he worked on settling his stomach. Lucy ate three more bites before he spoke again, his face not nearly as pale as it had been. "I've never ridden in a car before. Since I have no experience with them, I don't have the same negative association as I do with carriages and planes. And bikes. Ugh, bikes…" Natsu laid his head down on the table, groaning quietly. "Can we change the subject now? Please?"

"Sure, sorry, I was just really curious." She chewed another bite of her pasta, waiting for him to resume eating so she knew he was okay, before speaking again. "Wanna talk about what happened with Happy this morning?"

Natsu cleaned the meat off another rib, using the action to stall as he tried to figure out what to say. His interaction with the Exceed had been on his mind most of the day.

"_I still don't understand, little buddy."_

_Happy continued to clean up his corner of the room as he answered. "I just don't want to go on this trip. I'm going to ask Lucy to send me home so I can spend time with Carla and Wendy. You guys can summon me back here again once you're back."_

_Natsu frowned. "You've already said that, and it's not the part that I'm confused about. Just last month you were crying to Carla about all the traveling you were going to miss out on if Lucy sent you back and now you're telling me that you're going to _ask _Lucy to send you back right before our trip. What's the deal?"_

_The Exceed shrugged. "I just don't want to go along."_

"_I don't believe that for a second." Natsu stopped Happy as he tried to fly past him out of the room. "Happy, you've been acting weird lately, and I want to know what's going on."_

_Happy crossed his arms as he floated in front of Natsu. After a little while, he finally said, "I think it would be better for you and Lucy to go alone."_

"_Why?"_

"_I just think it'll be better for you."_

"_Happy, does this have something to do with what happened with Erza?"_

_The Exceed expression didn't change, but Natsu could feel the change in the air. "No," Happy said. "I've just been away from Carla longer than I like."_

_Natsu watched Happy for a while before he eventually sighed. "I can tell you're lying, Happy. I don't know why, but if you don't want to tell me, I won't make you. I just wish you would be honest with me."_

"_Like you were with Erza when you said you wouldn't share your scarf with Lucy anymore?" _

_Natsu froze. His eyes flickered away from Happy as his cheeks heated. "I thought you were sleeping."_

"_I heard the door close when you left." Happy frowned. "I'm worried about you."_

"_And yet, you're leaving me alone with her," Natsu countered. "Why are you running away if you're so worried?" Before Happy could respond, the half dragon spoke again. "For the record, the problem was that I was leaving my scarf with Lucy all night and going without it. I stayed in her room last night and kept part of it wrapped around my wrist. I'm not going to go berserk again, so there's no need to go tattling to Erza. I know what I'm doing."_

"_But Natsu-"_

"_But nothing." Natsu turned away, annoyed. "Go talk to Lucy. We'll be leaving soon, and if you're going to go home, you should do it before we leave for the airport." He didn't turn back and he didn't respond as Happy said goodbye and shut the door behind him._

Natsu swallowed. "I don't know, Happy said he missed Carla. It was his choice to miss out on the trip to go visit her. I'm not sure what you want me to say about it."

"You just seemed upset. I thought maybe there had been more to it than what you told me." Lucy took a sip of her drink. "Not that you have to tell me if there is. It's just odd to see you so unhappy."

Natsu smiled. "It's nothing, really. My stomach is just still working on settling down. I'll be fine."

"Alright." They continued their meal in silence. Occasionally the waiter would stop to ask if they needed anything, but other than that, neither spoke. Lucy watched Natsu as he continued to stare down at his food, a neutral expression on his face. Lucy remained quiet, allowing him to sort through whatever thoughts he needed to as she looked around them.

The flight had been fairly painless, outside of Natsu's motion sickness. They'd had the three seats to themselves, since Happy didn't join them, so she'd let Natsu stretch out a little between them as he worked on keeping his stomach under control. The hotel he'd chosen for them had been beautiful. Halfway up the mountain and overlooking a cliff, it had incredible views from the east side of the building. Each room had large glass doors that opened up onto a beautiful balcony. From out there, it was easy to see multiple mountaintops and slopes of the closest mountains.

Her favorite part by far, and the part specially chosen for her, Natsu claimed, was the bathroom. One wall was entirely dominated by crystal clear glass, with a tub large enough to seat four adults. It was situated against the glass wall, allowing for a spectacular view of the outside while taking a bath. She knew the curtains were currently drawn, but she had every intention of opening them up and taking a nice long soak once they returned to the room, so she could watch the colors from the sunset paint the mountainside.

Natsu's sigh broke Lucy out of her thoughts. She looked up in time to see him give her an apologetic look before looking away again. "I'm sorry. I'm being a downer, aren't I?"

Lucy shook her head. "You're obviously worried about Happy, and I can understand that. I just feel bad that I don't know how to help make you feel better. Some friend I am."

Natsu gave her a small smile. "I've seen you with your friends. You're a great friend. Just because you don't know how to make a demon of all beings feel better doesn't mean you aren't."

Lucy frowned. "Well I don't feel like I am right now. Is there anything I can do? We could go up to our room and I could summon him again, if you wanna talk to him."

"Nah, leave him be," Natsu said. "I don't want to interfere with his time with Carla. I can wait. Thanks though."

The waiter arrived with dessert menus before Lucy could respond. He went through the specials as they looked. After giving the waiter their choices, he left with a smile. "So, I assume we're waiting until tomorrow to go skiing, correct?"

"I thought that would be best. It'll give us a chance to relax tonight." Natsu rubbed at his neck, a blush spreading across his nose. "I, uh, also have a little more research I need to do before we go."

Lucy cocked her head, intrigued by the bashful look on his face. "What about?" she asked.

"It's nothing really. I just, uh, haven't…" He mumbled under his breath as he avoided her gaze.

"What was that?"

He sighed. "I haven't figured out how to ski yet."

To Natsu's surprise, Lucy burst out laughing. Quickly, she folded her hands over her mouth to stifle the noises coming out of her, but they only muffled her laughter slightly. He watched as her eyes watered and her face and neck flushed from her mirth. His stomach stirred a little as he met her eyes, the color lighter than he'd ever seen it before.

When she finally calmed down, shortly after the waiter dropped off their treats, she took several deep breaths, avoiding looking at him until she was sure she had herself under control. "Let me get this straight." Lucy put a fist in front of her mouth as she caught his gaze once more. A laugh pushed its way past her lips, but she stopped the others that tried to follow. "You decided to go skiing." Her eyes closed as her shoulders shook. Her breathing became audible as she forced more laughter back. "But you have no idea how to ski?"

Natsu nodded. He was smiling slightly, unable to remain unaffected in the face of so much joy.

Lucy covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes bright as she let out a breath. "Oh my sweet summer child. How would you survive in this world without me?"

"Excuse me, but I'm the whole reason you're on this trip. Give me some credit." He finally took a bite of his desert, moaning as the flavors hit his tongue. "This stuff is a amazing. I don't remember what I got, but I have to have it again before we leave."

"I think that was the molten chocolate lava cake." Lucy took a bit of her creme brulee and hummed her own appreciation. "Don't forget to get some of the ice cream with your bite."

He did as she said, sliding back in his seat as he threw his hands up. "You humans have no idea how lucky you are. There is nothing like this in the demon realms."

"You wanna try mine?" she asked. Natsu eyed her dessert before nodding. As she readied her fork, he took a drink of his water to clear his taste buds. When she finally held out his bite, he carefully took the food in his teeth without slobbering all over the utensil. He wasn't sure what cooties she thought he had, but she'd been nice enough to inform him that swapping spit was not something done between people who were not in relationships. Although, the deal they had was a type of relationship, so her explanation still confused him.

Suddenly he didn't care about his mental state as the taste on his tongue robbed his brain of all thought. Her desert was spectacular. He moaned as he slid farther into his seat. "Can I just take one of you home with me?" he asked. "Just one human, that's all I want. One that can cook. Is that too much to ask for?"

Lucy was staring at him blankly, her eyes unfocused and lips parted as her fork remained hovering over plate. Even his exceptional hearing could not decipher the noise that came out of her mouth as she slowly came back to herself. When her eyes finally focused back onto his, her face reddened and she cleared her throat. "I- I'm glad you liked it." She lowered her eyes to her desert and began to eat it in earnest.

"Do you want some of mine?" he asked as he pointed at his plate with his spoon. "It would be fair, since I tried yours."

Her face darkened even more as she quickly shook her head. "No, that's fine. I'm fine. You can finish yours, I'm alright."

Natsu frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Perfect!" She smiled at him as she took another bite.

"Alright, you just seem a little… weird."

"It's nothing. Nothing at all." Lucy quickly swallowed. "So, uh, is that something that your kind do? Bring humans to your world?"

Natsu became thoughtful as he chewed his food. "Not really. There are no rules against bringing them over there, but I don't know that I've ever heard of a demon doing so before. Not like any of you could last long over there. It gets really hot, too hot for a human's body to handle."

"Is that why dragons are over there?"

"Not all dragons like the hot climate. Some just like to visit because they can get things down there that they can't get in this world."

Lucy cocked her head. "Like what?"

"Well, uh…" Natsu glanced up at Lucy and then away as he stuttered a little. "Well, dragons are, uh, rather large, and, uh, secretive, and you know, can't be around humans. So when they, uh, need, well, help with, uh, you know…" He gestured vaguely. "_Certain_ _things_, they go to the demon realm. Demons can shift their size to a certain degree, so they can be good partners, when a dragon can't find another of their species when they, you know, need one."

Even though the explanation did nothing to ease Lucy's confusion, the fact that Natsu's cheeks were the same color as his hair filled the answer well enough for her. "_Oh_. Gotcha." She cleared her throat before continuing with her food. More questions surfaced as they cleared their plates. She tried to forget about them as they both worked on ignoring the tension that had sprouted up between them, but they refused to be silenced.

After Natsu returned from speaking with the waiter and began leading her from the restaurant, she spoke again, her curiosity refusing to be squashed. "So is that only a dragon thing, or do demons go through it, too? And are demon-dragons the only hybrids that are made?"

"Are you asking for a lesson on dragon and demon sex?" he asked, a grin on his face despite the color topping his cheeks.

"No, not really. Just curious about the possible hybrids."

Natsu sighed as they stopped in the line at the elevator. After looking around, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stairs. Alone in the staircase, he began to answer her. "Demons will do it with just about anyone that's willing, while dragons have to be picky because of their size. Generally, they'll only mate with demons when they're sure they won't produce any offspring. A dragon in heat can usually only be sated by mating, so sometimes, if they're not careful, they could end up not preparing properly and be forced to lay with a demon anyway."

"Animals that go into heat in our world mate _to_ produce offspring. Even women sometimes, well, do something similar when they're ovulating. Is is different for demons and dragons?"

"They're both a little different. Male dragons and demons respond to a female's heat, but they can choose how they satisfy the female. Male dragons are able to satisfy a female demon without impregnating them, but when they satisfy a female dragon, they can't hold back from creating a young. The same works in reverse for demon males.

"And then sometimes, for both male dragons and demons, they can enter a heat if they've gone too long without mating. In that kind of heat, they would impregnate any being they slept with that was fertile. They can't hold back while in heat, and they're generally pretty brutal. Our bodies aren't meant to go so long without that kind of activity." Natsu waved his hand. "I say so long, but in human years, we can go quite a long time. Dragons are only fertile about every ten human years, and the males could go several cycles without having to satisfy that urge before they have to worry. Plus, that whole cycle changes for dragons once they're mated."

Lucy swallowed. "So it really is only dragons and demons in your world?"

"Oh no, there are many other magical races that come through, but they don't have the same kinds of biological needs that we do. And demon-dragon hybrids aren't the only kinds made, but they're the only kinds that generally live very long. The other races refuse to have any contact of that sort with demons, and while many of them would be open to that kind of union with dragons, they're just physically unable to."

Lucy went over that information as she followed him down the hall towards their room. He popped his card into the door and held it open for her. She thanked him as she entered before him, sitting on her bed as Natsu closed the door behind him and then moved to sit on his own bed. "Do you have any more questions? About that or anything else in my world?"

"Many," she said with a small smile, "but only one before I want to go take advantage of that tub."

Natsu grinned. "Then ask away."

"Well, you have a humanoid form, so obviously you don't have the same restrictions as most demons and dragons. Do you… have you… how does that sort of thing work for you? Would you be able to, you know," she said, blush burning in her cheeks, "satisfy your… _urges_ with someone that wasn't a demon or dragon?"

"I suppose so. I'm actually a little weird since I'm both demon and dragon. I'm not sure if I'm broken or not, but I've never actually gone through a heat. I've never been interested in that kind of thing at all, to be honest."

"Oh." Her tone was strange as she answered, so Natsu leaned forward to read Lucy's expression, but her face was completely neutral as she focused outside the window. Before he could say anything else, she turned and smiled up at him. "Well, since you were nice enough to get that big tub for me, I think I should go take advantage of it."

"Sounds good," he said. "I'll stay out here." Natsu rubbed his head where he'd learned the first time she'd had a bath around him that it was _not_ okay to bother her while she was in the tub. "Holler if you need me."

Lucy laughed lightly but she looked vaguely uncomfortable as she turned away. "Just stay out here, you perv. I'll be okay." Once she closed the door, Natsu raised his hands and created a barrier around the doorway that would alert him if she took a step out of the room. Once he was done, he searched the room for her phone. Grabbing it, he went out onto the balcony to make a call.


	23. Chapter 23

**Guys, you're the best readers ever. I appreciate every single review you guys leave me, no matter the length. They always make my days better, so thanks a whole bunch and happy reading!**

**(Little man is taking a nice long nap today, so I have skirted my responsibilities and am instead using my free time to write. Enjoy!)**

* * *

As Lucy finished adding her chosen salts and oils, she realized the tub was still only halfway full. She moved to open the curtains and stared out the window to enjoy the view. She could tell from the shadows that the sun was nearing the horizon, the light already changing the colors of the snow.

Once the water was high enough, Lucy turned off the spouts and moved to take off her clothes. As she finished taking off her shirt and pants, she paused as she realized she'd forgotten her phone. She'd left her book in the room since she planned on taking in the scenery, but her phone had her music on it, and what bath was complete without a little music?

Eyeing her clothes, she decided she would be lazy and pull on a robe. She sighed as she pulled on one of the robes hanging near the door, in awe of how soft the material was, before pulling open the door. Before she could step out of the room, she heard Natsu's angry whispers coming from somewhere nearby. The door to the bathroom was facing the room's door, mostly away from the rest of the room.

Pressing herself against the door jam, she slowly peaked around the corner before she finally saw him standing on the room's small balcony. Looking around the room, she realized that he was using her phone to make his call. Curious, she almost called out to him, but she decided to remain quiet. It was obvious he was trying to keep his conversation from her, and she was _very_ curious about why. The door was cracked open, so she quieted her breathing as much as she could hear him.

"… said that you could figure it out… you _promised_ me… I want to help… what _you_ said… what good are your stupid cameras…" _Who is he talking to? What about cameras?_ Lucy made a move to step out of the room, intending to get closer, before he growled loudly, "_Damn it_, Loke, you said you could figure out who they were!"

Lucy froze, as did her heart, before she quickly moved back into the bathroom, her toes barely missing the carpet. What the _hell_ was Natsu doing talking to Loke behind her back? As she quickly sorted through what she'd heard, she realized that the only place Loke would have cameras, that Natsu would care about, was in his restaurant. Her heart plummeted as she realized what that could mean. Natsu had known where she was on Monday, when she'd come home so upset. He hadn't seen her, but he must have figured out somehow that she was upset. If he'd reached out to Loke, he might have been able to figure out something happened.

Lucy had been sure that she'd left Loke none the wiser about her change in mood, but he was a very observant man. If he'd figured out that she was upset, and talked to his server, he could have very well used his cameras to look back and figure out something had happened. If that was true, then he and Natsu were conspiring together to find out what it was, and Natsu obviously intended to do something about it. Lucy felt herself soften some at the thought. It was rather sweet that he was trying so hard, but on the other hand, if he interfered, she could be looking at more problems with that group of men, and while he would easily be able to handle them if they tried anything, Natsu wouldn't be around forever. If they figured out where she was, they only had to wait out Natsu's visit and then come after her once her demon roommate was gone. She couldn't risk that.

Lucy sneaked another peak around the wall as she considered her options. Natsu was pacing a little, his free hand raking through his hair. "Well, I can't do anything if I don't know who they are," he said, no longer whispering. "I know, Loke, but I care about her, too." There was a pause. "How would I know if it's more? Does it matter?" Lucy felt her confusion grow more as she continued to listen. He laughed, a dark chuckle that sent shivers down her spine. "I can assure you of _that_ much. They wouldn't _dare_ bother her again after I was done with them, trust me." He paused. She could only see half of his face, but his dark glee changed instantly, his expression as cool as his tone. "I can't tell you that, you'll just have to trust me, and even if you question many of my actions, this is one time I promise you, I wouldn't disappoint."

Annoyed, Lucy slipped back into the bathroom as she considered her options. Natsu had told her before that he never lied. She wondered if that had been the truth. Now seemed like the perfect time to test him, so she pulled the door mostly shut and called out for him.

Natsu paused in his pacing as Loke continued to rattle on in his ear. "-_you keep telling me that you can easily handle this, but I'm not still not even sure there is anything _to _handle!_" Had Lucy called for him? "_What I saw was only an observation. The timing was right, but I have no evidence that those men were actually a problem-_"

"Natsu?" _Shit._

Natsu put his hand over the mouthpiece of her phone. "Yeah, Luce?"

"Hey, I was about to hop into the bath but I realized I forgot my phone. You mind bringing here? I wanted to play some music." _Double shit._

"Yeah, sure, I can do that. You want your book, too?"

There was a pause. "No, that's okay. Just my phone would be great."

"Just a sec," he called. Putting the phone back to his ear, "_-I've never seen the guys before-_" he interrupted Loke's tirade. "Listen, Lucy's calling for me. I gotta go. Just do what you can for now." He hung up and quickly moved towards the door. When he saw the door open, Natsu internally groaned. _Triple shit_. He smiled as he handed her the phone, pointedly looking away from the door where she stood in only a robe.

She gave him a bright smile. "Thanks bunch. It was going to be awfully boring in here without my music."

"No problem," he said as he moved back towards the beds.

"That's weird," she murmured.

Natsu froze. "What's weird?"

"I must have pocket dialed Loke earlier. I have an outgoing call to him. Looks like it lasted a while, I wonder why he didn't hang up."

The half dragon swallowed as he looked around the room. "Is your battery going to hold up for your bath? I could grab your charger."

Lucy took a step out of the bathroom, triggering the spell and surprising Natsu as the alarm went off in his head. "That would be wonderful actually, thank you." Lucy watched as he jerkily moved across the room and grabbed her charger off the table next to her bed. "Do you need my phone before I bring it in here? I can tell you the passcode, in case you ever need to use it. I know we decided that email was enough, but sometimes it's just easier to call or text people."

Obviously uncomfortable, Natsu avoided looking at her as he came back and held out the cord for her phone. "I'm good."

Lucy grabbed his hand before he could pull away. "You okay? You seem nervous."

Natsu dipped his head, avoiding her gaze. "Trying to respect your privacy. You're in a robe."

"Is that all?" she asked.

She could see him open and close his mouth several times before he spoke again. "Let me know if you need anything else," he mumbled, before moving quickly back out onto the balcony.

Lucy didn't try to stop him as he went. _Well, technically he didn't lie to me._ She sighed as she closed the door behind her and set up her phone. Once she picked out a playlist, she quickly finished undressing and pulled her hair up into a high bun. She groaned softly as she sank into the water. The heat instantly loosened her up as she looked out the window. If she moved just right, she thought she could make out Natsu's hair as he leaned against the balcony's railing. She sighed as she readjusted in the tub, resigning not to think about it until she got out.

Slowly, she sank into the tub until only her head was above the water, and tilted her head so she could watch the colors on the snow slowly change with the setting sun.

* * *

Happy flew determinedly towards his goal, his focus only interrupted by the occasional protest from Carla. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked for the tenth time since they'd started their trip.

Happy nodded. "It's the only way I can find out for sure."

"Why don't you just ask Wendy?"

"She's still young yet. I doubt Grandeeney would have told her about that kind of thing."

Carla sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'm just worried. We Exceeds are allowed to travel anywhere we want, but we're not always _welcome_ everywhere."

Happy paused in his flight to grab Carla's hand. "I have to risk it. Natsu is my best friend, and if I'm right, then he's going to need help figuring things out. You know he'd never realize it on his own."

She nodded. "You're right." Happy squeezed her hand before continuing his flight.

"Besides," he said, a false air of confidence around him, "they're just dragons. How dangerous can they really be?"

Carla rolled her eyes instead of answering.

* * *

The next morning, Lucy was still trying to figure out how to confront Natsu as they made their way up the mountain on the lift. Since the trip was so long, the lodge's lift had enclosed cars that could hold up to a dozen people. Natsu and Lucy were accompanied by six other people, all of who were in the middle of a heated debate about how to properly eat cereal.

Natsu remained silent, his brow furrowed as he listened to the argument grow louder as they climbed the mountain. He leaned down as one of the women threw her glove at one of the men sitting across from her. "I don't understand what is happening," he whispered. "Do I need to do something to stop their fight?"

Lucy looked back towards the group before shaking her head. "They're fine. None of them are _really_ mad, and they haven't done anything to shake the car too much so just leave them be."

He nodded, then a beat later, leaned down again. "What is your opinion?"

"About what? Cereal?" He nodded, making her chuckle. "Do you honestly want to argue about cereal right now?"

"I wouldn't say argue. We have no idea if we have the same stance on the issue yet."

Lucy grinned as she turned his way. "Do _you_ think there's a correct way to eat cereal?"

"There seem to be at least _some_ consistent rules about the proper procedure."

"Like?"

"Cereal should be eaten with milk and no other liquid."

"Agreed," Lucy said. "What else?"

"Cereal should be eaten out of a bowl."

"That is typically the way, but a glass or mug could be a suitable substitute in a pinch."

Natsu nodded slowly. "I can agree with that." He glanced at the group as one of the men poked his friend with his ski, who then grabbed onto it. "It seems like sogginess is a bad thing, so I kind of agree with the one man that the cereal should remain out of the milk and you should mix them one spoonful at a time."

Lucy made a buzzer noise as she folded her arms in front of herself. "Wrong. Cereal should be just a little soggy when you eat it. Not like, left in the bowl for an hour kind of soggy, but just a little."

"Soggy cereal sounds gross," Natsu said with a frown.

"Are you telling me you _really_ haven't tried any cereal yet?"

He shrugged. "I only eat breakfast when you make it."

Lucy nodded slowly, remembering what he said about demons not needing to eat as much as humans. "I'm going to change subject, because arguing about cereal is just _really_ not on my list of things I want to do today. How long can you go in this world without eating?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've been eating at least once a day since I got here. I could go longer, but why would I give up the opportunity to indulge on the wonderful food of this world?"

Lucy returned the smile he gave her, distracted from her thoughts for a moment as she saw the drop off coming up. "That's a pretty good reason," she said as she took hold of her skis. "Our stop is coming up," she said nodding towards the opposite window. The other group had noticed, too. Their argument quickly turned into excitement as they pulled on their gear and got ready to disembark.

Once they were safely off and out of the way, Lucy dropped her skis and put them on her feet. "So, are we taking the easy path to start? I could use the warm up to get my skiing legs back under myself." When Natsu just blinked at her in confusion, she sighed. "It's just an expression. Let's do the bunny hill first. I can teach you better there and you have less opportunity to hurt yourself."

Natsu grinned as he put on his own skis. "The bunny hill sounds lame, let's do the black diamond!"

Lucy blinked at him before she squinted. "You watched videos last night, didn't you?"

"Yep!"

"So you understand that the black diamond is the hardest slope?"

"Yep!"

"Natsu, doing that one first, when you don't even know how to move around in skis, is a terrible idea."

"Of course it's not! Come on, it'll be fun! It's not like it'll kill me. Where's your adventuring spirit?"

Lucy sighed as she watched him awkwardly waddle his way in his skis towards the black diamond sign. "Natsu, please at least let me teach you-"

"See you at the bottom, Luce!" Natsu yelled as he pushed himself over the edge.

"- how to stop," she finished, moving forward to watch his descent. Almost immediately, he lost his balance and began rolling head over heels. As he hit a short flat patch, he managed to get his feet under him, but he wobbled as his skis continued to slide.

"Luce!" he hollered as his arms pinwheeled. "Luce! I don't know how to-" He was cut off as his skis tipped and he began sliding down again. "-STOOOOP!"

Lucy sighed once more as she moved forward and slowly started to follow the half dragon down the mountain. She hadn't realized he was going to be so difficult about learning, or she would have practiced with him before they left their room.

As she heard a loud crash, and saw a tall, thin tree start to fall in the distance, she wondered if his skin was as thick as his skull.


	24. Chapter 24

**I've done it a couple times now, so I should probably address it. I use a line of bolded, nonsense letters to separate chunks of the chapter before I load them to FF and then put in the line breaks. I have forgotten a few times to fix them before posting, so if you ever see them, that's what they are. In other news, I have another writing contest I need to get done writing for, so I won't be working on this again for the next week or so while I get my story for that finished up, but I will be back soon after!**

**To EchizenRyoma, _of course_ there are. Just wait, there will be more showing up. All in due time.**

**To TheFranticPhantasm, I can't believe I forgot to address your review sooner. I love your prediction. Demons may not have hoards, but they can be greedy about sharing, so perhaps you're right. Only time will tell...**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Say it back to me."

Natsu wiggled uncomfortably in his seat. "Luce, I really don't wanna-"

"Say it back to me," Lucy repeated, "or I will remain in our room until it's time to go, living off baths and room service." She crossed her arms as she stared him down.

He avoided her gaze, but eventually heaved a sigh. "I won't go on any of the hills until you say that I'm ready."

"Good." Lucy leaned forward to adjust the sling his arm was in.

"But how about if we just- OW!" Lucy tugged harder than necessary on the tie near his neck, jostling his broken arm. "Was that really necessary?"

"What's wrong Mr. I'm-Totally-Fine? Did I hurt your arm that you claim you didn't break?"

Natsu grumbled as he looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lucy hummed to herself as she stood and walked towards her bag. "You know, I remember a certain someone claiming they didn't lie…"

"I never said I didn't break it, I said it was fine, which it is. Give it a few hours and it'll be good as new." He scooted back on his bed and leaned against the headboard. "I can't speak for the skis, though." They both looked across the room where his broken skis sat in a pile near the door.

"They have a place the hotel where you can rent skis. You'll just have to make sure you don't break those, too, or I'll have to pay for them."

"Yes ma'am," he sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "How do you humans do it?"

"Do what?"

"Deal with broken bones. It takes your bodies _weeks_ to fix themselves. I've had to keep it still for less than an hour and I'm already completely bored."

"To be fair, we get casts put on them so we can still mostly function. And good pain medication is nothing to sneeze at. If you want, we could bring you to the hospital, but I have a feeling they'd have questions about things you'd rather they didn't know about."

He waved away her concerns with his good arm. "Like I said, I'll be fine. I've had worse, I'm just bored."

"Wanna watch a couple movies? Maybe they can distract you long enough for your arm to heal."

Natsu nodded. "Sure, I think I can handle that. Anything in particular you wanna watch?"

"This place has hundreds of channels, I'm sure I can find something." Lucy grabbed the remote and sat on her bed as she turned on the TV and began searching through the channels. Natsu closed his eyes as he waited. He was always a little more tired while his body was regenerating. There was a good chance he would sleep as long as Lucy that night.

A sound from Lucy drew his attention. She was leaning forward, a large smile on her face. "What's up?" he asked.

She turned his way, her smile lighting up her face. "They have a few anime channels, and one of them is running a Black Butler marathon!"

"I have no idea what that is, but you seem excited about it."

"It's a show about a boy who makes a deal with a demon. The demon agrees to help him get vengeance against his parents' killers in exchange for his soul."

Natsu sat up, his interest growing. "The demon made a deal with a child? We have strict rules against that. We're not allowed to create deals with humans who are less than sixteen years of age. Our summonings can't even be _completed_ by someone under that age."

Lucy quickly pushed a few buttons and chose the show, excitedly crawling her way backwards on the bed. "Oh we are _so_ watching this now."

Natsu watched her as she stacked her pillows up to lean against. "What are you doing?"

"Getting comfy, what does it look like?"

He frowned. "Aren't you going to come over here?"

Lucy stopped. "Why would I do that?"

"We usually sit next to each other when we watch TV."

"Well, yes, but we're sitting on beds. It's a little different."

"You can make your pillow mountain over here, too, can't you?"

Lucy looked over at Natsu, taking in his relaxed position. He'd propped one of the pillows under his broken arm and his free arm was folded behind his head. He'd changed his clothes, magically of course, to a pair of thick sweatpants and a comfy looking black shirt. With his bare feet sticking out from under the blanket and his hair in its usual ruffled state, he looked completely comfortable and cuddle worthy. "Well, you look pretty comfortable, and I don't want to risk bumping you and hurting you."

"You had no problem doing it before," he said.

She glared. "That was to prove a point."

Natsu shrugged. "At any rate, there's a whole half a bed you could sit on over here without bumping me. Come on," he said as he patted the space next to him. "It'll be weird if you're all the way over- why is he dressing the kid?"

Lucy glanced at the TV. "He's a demon butler, it's his job."

Natsu's confusion grew. "If he's supposed to be helping the kid get vengeance, why is he wasting time being a butler?" Lucy sighed as she grabbed her pillow stack and moved to his bed.

A couple hours later, Lucy found herself falling against Natsu's good arm as she laughed. "_I just don't understand!_ Why is he agreeing to take a _demon hound_ back home with him?! Do you have any idea how dangerous those things are? And there's no way that woman is just some woman. Demon hounds _do not_ respond to human commands. They're only response to seeing a human is to _eat_ them. The rest of the house doesn't stand a chance, least of all his master. He's soft and human and no good in a fight. He's going to be eaten in- _that's what I said, Sebastian!_ Well, not in so many words. She's not just incredibly persuasive, she has to be some sort of demon or angel or something. They're the only ones who can control one of those beasts."

Lucy tried to catch her breath, ignoring the way Natsu's arm rested so casually around her shoulders. "So does that mean… that angels are real?"

"Of course they are. They've got a whole system set up in their world like ours. They've got different races with a variety of powers and jobs, just like us. Most of them don't come to earth to work, though, unless they're guardian angels."

Lucy wiggled slightly to get more comfortable. "So guardian angels exist, too? Invisible beings that follow their charge around and protect them from harm?"

When he didn't respond right away, Lucy looked up at Natsu. He looked uncomfortable, but she wasn't sure why. "Natsu?"

"They don't work quite like that. Usually, they hide their true appearance, like I am now, and move around looking like regular humans. Some guardian angels only save a person once, so they show up just in the nick of time, a stranger willing to help out, and then leave once the human is safe. Other times, if it's a long job, they'll integrate themselves into the person's life in some way, so they're always around. They can handle situations from behind the scenes or manipulate the situation so the person doesn't even know they were in danger. However they want to do it, as long as they keep the human safe."

"How does a guardian angel decide to take on a job?"

"It's usually on behalf of someone in the afterlife. Souls that know they're leaving someone behind in danger or a less than ideal situation. They make their plea to the leader, and the leader decides if an angel will be sent to help out."

"What do they bargain with?" Lucy asked. If she hadn't been looking at Natsu as she asked, she would have missed the way his face subtly changed. It was gone a moment later, but she wondered why he'd be bothered by the question. As he answered, she thought perhaps she knew.

"They don't have to bargain anything. The angels help those whose hearts and requests are pure. The more love a person holds for the one they are begging help for, the better the chance their request will be granted is." Natsu returned his gaze to the TV as he finished. "I still don't understand why this demon is bothering to play house when he has real work to do. He should have just talked to that red grim reaper and gotten the information he needed. He's rather lazy about his job."

Lucy hummed as she turned back towards the TV. They continued to watch well into the night, Natsu continuing to criticise the demon, and Lucy continuing to laugh at his distress over the inaccuracies in the show. Much later, Natsu glanced down at Lucy when she remained silent during a particularly intense rant on his part to find her sleeping. Once he realized, he gingerly moved his other arm, finding the pain had lessened to a faint throb. He stretched it out a little before carefully reaching down and pulling the blanket over her. Once he had moved to a more comfortable position, he untucked the end of his scarf and put it around her neck, careful to avoid waking her. Once he was satisfied, he returned to watching the show, intent on seeing how it ended.

* * *

The first thing Lucy noticed when she woke up was how warm she was. She refused to open her eyes for a while, choosing instead to enjoy the heat surrounding her. When she eventually took a deep breath, she noticed the familiar smell of smoke and something dark that she usually only smelt when she was-

Lucy's eyes flew open and she found herself firmly held against Natsu's side, with her face turned into his neck. In the faint night coming from near the door, she could see he was still asleep, his chest falling and rising with his even breaths. Carefully, she pulled her head away from him, lifting it to look down and see that her whole body was pressed up against Natsu's left side under the blanket. His right leg and arm were stretched out, free of the covers, making her wonder if he was too warm. As she put her head back down, she realized that part of Natsu's scarf was tucked around her neck, aiding in the strong smoke smell that was filling her nose.

She felt her body heat even more as she realized Natsu's arm was firmly wrapped around her waist. Lucy couldn't even focus on her surprise at him still being asleep as she tried to figure out how to get out of his hold. Slowly and carefully, she removed the scarf from around her and draped it over Natsu's body. Then, she pulled the blanket off of her body. Once she'd gotten the covers mostly out of the way, she began to carefully pry Natsu's hand off of her side. When she was mostly free, she used her arms to lift her torso off his arm and started to roll over.

Unfortunately, only a second or two after she got out of his hold, Natsu groaned and rolled over to put both arms around her and snuggled against her. She sighed and tried to pry herself out of his hold, ignoring his grunt when she elbowed him. "Natsu, let me up."

"No," he said, squeezing her tighter, "warm."

She sighed. "Natsu, I need to get up."

"We're on vacation," he grumbled into his pillow. "We don't _need_ to do anything."

"Natsu-"

"Luce, can you just relax for a few minutes? Please?" He lifted his head to give her a half hearted glare. "If you don't figure out how to just relax, I'll stop bringing you with on my trips."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, maintaining eye contact as he continued to glare at her. They both knew it was an empty threat, since her joining him was part of the contract they had together, but he refused to back down.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, Natsu out of stubbornness, and Lucy because she knew she was right. Eventually he looked away, ignoring Lucy's smirk as he sighed and he tightened his arms around her again. As he buried his face back into his pillow, he grumbled, "You win, alright? Now just relax for a while. You can get up later. There are no meetings, no work, no anything for you to do right now, so just… take a chill pill and hang out for a bit."

Lucy chuckled as she allowed him to pull her close. "Your slang is getting better."

"I'm still not going to start using cool beans. I really just don't understand that one. Now are you going to fight me or just relax?"

She sighed as she got comfortable. "I guess I can wait a little while to get up."

"Good," he said, loosening his arms a little. A minute later, he was softly snoring in her ear.

Lucy glanced at the clock and realized it was earlier than she'd thought. Sighing, she adjusted her head, not surprised when Natsu's arms tightened around her as she moved. Once she'd settled, she lightly draped her arms around Natsu's. She'd always thought she wasn't much of a cuddler, but perhaps she'd just never given it a chance. It was nice having another body to share heat with. As Natsu's warmth continued to surround her, she realized it also made her very sleepy. She snuggled more closely to the half dragon, eventually falling back asleep with a small smile on her face.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad for her to relax a little while they were on this trip.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi guys! This is a little on the short side for this fic, but I had a good stopping point and wanted to check in before my busy weekend!**

**Got my chapter done for the contest I entered. It's different from the last one, so I actually entered the first chapter of the story I'm writing for my old D&D character. There was a **_**lot**_ **of editing and I'm finding that I have trouble sometimes letting go of scenes that I don't need… **

**Anyway, so you guys can see what I've been working on the past couple weeks, I'm going to be posting it on FF as well, titled "All Magic has Secrets", so give it a read if you're interested! **

**P.S. I'm loving the predictions you guys have for this story. They always make me happy to see.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Hey Lucy, watch this!" Lucy turned just in time to see Natsu take one of the smaller jumps on their current slope, cheering as he landed it perfectly and came to a stop right next to her.

"That was great, Natsu, you're getting much better!"

"So does that mean-"

"No."

Natsu frowned as his shoulders slumped. "But you said I was doing really well."

"You are," she said as she patted his shoulder, "but I don't think you're quite ready. Come on, it's time for your next lesson."

He grumbled as he followed her down the hill, but deep down Natsu didn't mind so much. It was nice having Lucy around for the trip. Even though he wished Happy had come with, he was finding that he was having just as much fun, if not more fun, spending time with Lucy.

With a grin, he pushed himself forward a little faster, making sure Lucy saw his grin as he passed her, intending to race her to the end of the slope. When she laughed and picked up speed, he turned back and put all of his effort into beating her.

After he won, despite her grumbling, he found that nothing could erase his smile the rest of the day. There really was nothing more fun than spending time with Lucy.

* * *

"Come on, Luce. Please?"

"I just think that we should practice mo-"

"Oh come on, Lucy, we went on the Black Diamond _yesterday_. That's old news! The guy at the lodge said there are paths all over the mountain that we can go on, so let's go find one! It'll be an adventure!"

Lucy sighed. "Natsu, I'm not so sure-"

"You're never sure, Lucy," he whined. "Come on, with me there, you have _nothing_ to worry about! Even if there's an avalanche or a ravine or _anything_, I can get you out! You'll be perfectly safe!"

Lucy covered her face with a gloved hand as Natsu leaned down once more, with his pouty lips and big puppy dog eyes, right in her face. "You're not going to leave me alone until I say yes, are you?" Natsu shook his head, his lip seeming to stick out even further. She sighed, causing him to hoot and pump his fist.

"This is going to be _awesome_, Luce, I'm all fired up! Come on! I wanna go this way!" Natsu grabbed his poles, that he had barely used by this point, and started pushing himself up the short hill towards the nearest path. As Lucy followed, she could see that the path was completely devoid of any other prints.

"Natsu, it might be smarter to find a path that at least one other person has been on."

"Where's the fun in that?" he asked, turning to look at her over her shoulder. "If no one else has been here, that makes it even more of an adventure!"

Lucy intended to argue more, but Natsu had disappeared from her line of sight, so instead, she grumbled as she moved quickly to catch up to him.

A feeling of dread seemed to settle in her stomach as she went over the hill, losing sight of the main slope.

* * *

"Natsu-"

"Wait, I know what I'm doing."

Lucy sighed. "Natsu-"

"Not yet, Lucy, just hold on."

Irritated, the blond counted to ten in her head before she spoke again. "Natsu-"

"GEEZ, Luce, I can't concentrate with you nagging me!"

As Lucy's mouth audibly snapped shut, she wondered what she had done in her life to deserve getting lost on a mountain in the middle of nowhere with a dragon-demon hybrid who apparently had no sense of direction. The sun was almost set and they had no idea which way to go. Lucy had tried to keep an eye on which direction they were travelling, but they had followed so many convoluted trails, she'd lost track somewhere after the first three hours. Seeing that Natsu wasn't going to listen to her, she moved off the trail, carefully making her way through the pines towards her goal.

Natsu muttered to himself as he once more tried to use his magic to figure out which direction they needed to go. Unfortunately, the tracking spell was the only one he knew to do that and it could only retrace so far. They had moved around the mountainside so much, and in so many directions, he couldn't retrace far enough to find the lodge. He sighed, finally admitting defeat. "Alright, I give up Lucy. If you have-" He stopped as he looked around, finding himself alone. "Lucy?" He moved forward, panicking slightly. "Lucy!"

"Natsu, over here!" The half demon nearly threw his poles and ripped off his skis as he moved to follow her voice. After making his way through several large pine trees, he found her standing in front of a cave. "It's getting too dark to move around out here. The clouds are out, and it's a new moon anyway, so there's not enough light for us to see-"

"Speak for yourself."

"-and," she continued with a small glare, "I'm cold and hungry. So let's just stay in here for the night. I'm sure you can keep me from freezing to death, and in the morning we can try again, once the sun is up."

Natsu looked around and grumbled a little, but he finally moved to join her, glancing around the cave's entrance. "You know, I could just-"

"I already told you, you are not going to go flying off without me. I refuse to be lost out here on my own."

"I could just take you with me," he said.

"And have you risk dropping me? I don't think so."

Natsu sighed. "How many times do I have to remind you how strong I am? I would never drop a little thing like you."

Lucy shook her head as she leaned down to pull off her skis. "We can stay here," she insisted. "I'm going to try and collect some sticks or something for a fire. Do you think you could find something to eat? I know you're used to more convenient food, but I'm guessing you could probably figure out how to skin and gut a rabbit or something."

Seeing that Lucy was committed to her plan, Natsu merely nodded as he pulled off his skis and moved to do as she dictated. Before he got far, she called out to him, "And don't get yourself even more lost! I expect you to make it back here."

"You got it," he responded. "… Princess." He laughed as she growled behind him and then ducking as he heard the whistle of a something flying towards him. A snowball exploded against the truck of a tree nearby, and he laughed louder as he made his way out of sight.

Lucy muttered as he moved out of range. She shivered as she looked around at her now dark and shadowed surroundings. She had not come prepared for this kind of trip when they'd left in the morning. She'd kill for the mini flashlight in her purse, or her phone, or even the pile of snacks she'd accumulated in the fridge. They were woefully unprepared for a night of camping in a cave, but Lucy wasn't about to die roaming around the mountainside in the dark, so she did her best to find sticks and logs to return to the cave for a fire.

It was nearly an hour later that she finally stopped, moving instead to sit in the entrance of the cave and wait for Natsu to return. She knew from seeing the space earlier that the cave went back a ways, but without a light, she couldn't be sure how deep it was, or even if anything else was staying in it. As she curled herself into an even smaller ball, she continued to listen and watch, hoping Natsu would return soon.

Surprisingly, she found herself drifting off eventually, her body cold and tired, and wanting nothing more than to sleep off the uncomfortable feeling of her numb toes. As she worked on keeping herself awake, she heard movement through the trees nearby.

"Finally," Lucy said as she stood up. "I'm freezing, so if you could come over he- bear." In front of her stood a large, dark shadow, with a much smaller shadow nearby. Even without light, she could tell it was a bear that had shown up, a bear that probably _lived_ in the cave she'd been in, and as it began to growl, Lucy jumped to her feet and started running through the trees. As she ran, she could hear the bear growl and roar at her as it followed her, crashing through the trees as well.

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed as she ran, desperately trying to figure out where she could go to get out of the bear's reach. As she jumped a large, overturned tree, she tripped, causing her body to get stuck between it and a large rock on the other side. As she wiggled to get out, she realized she was getting even more stuck, and the bear was still coming. Lucy reversed and tried to wiggle her way below the log, but only succeeded in pushing her jacket and sweatshirt up around her chest. "Oh come on!" she cried, but as the cold air hit her skin, she realized she had a way out. She shoved her arm into the gap, placing her hand on her side and called Natsu's name again.

Silently, a shadow appeared on the branch in front of her, with large wings and softly burning eyes. Something landed on the ground nearby, and then Natsu reached down and lifted her up by her arms, chuckling the whole time. "Really Luce? Finally need my help and it's to get you unstuck."

He set her on the rock behind her, helping to pull her jacket back in place as Lucy looked around. "Natsu, that's not exactly the help that I need."

"It's not the only help, no, but I'm not worried about the bear."

"How did you know?" she asked.

"I told you. When you summon me, I arrive with the knowledge to know what help you need so I can fix the situation. Now if you'll excuse me." He stood again, jumping back to land lightly on his feet at the bear finally caught up. Before it could do anything, Natsu turned around, his wings stretched wide, and leaned forward as he roared at the creature. Lucy couldn't see around Natsu, but she heard some scuffling and a low moan from the bear, and after another roar from Natsu, she heard it scamper off. As she watched, Natsu's wings began to retract and in no time he was back to how he'd looked when he'd left to go hunting.

He turned around, his eyes still glowing, and moved back her way. "Well, I'm guessing we'll have to find somewhere else to stay?"

"Yeah. I think that cave was the bear's home. Our skis and stuff are still there, but they're not in the cave so they might be safe until morning."

"How about I show you what I found and then I'll go grab them?"

"Natsu, you really don't have to-"

"It's not a big deal," he said. "They won't hurt me."

"I know, but you don't have to bother them. They're just trying to live their lives and get by. It's the bears I'm worried about, not you. You've already scared the mother, I think we should leave them alone for the rest of the night."

Natsu felt his stomach grow warm and mushy as he stared at Lucy, the faint glow from his eyes making it easy to see the blush on her cheeks as she searched his features in the dark. "That's perfectly adorable, Luce."

Her blush darkened as she glared at him. "Oh shut up, and help me get down so you can show me where we're going."

Chuckling, Natsu moved forward and helped her safely get down. He kept her hand in his and after he leaned down to pick up whatever he had dropped before, he moved to lead her through the trees. "It's not very far. Just stay close and I'll keep you from getting hit by all the branches."

Lucy mumbled, but didn't say anything else as she moved to stand as close to him as she could get. Even though it was dark, she managed to keep from tripping more than a few times as she followed Natsu through the woods. She found herself jumping every time she heard an owl hoot or ruffling of branches that weren't right in front of her, but Natsu was nice enough not to laugh at her again as he led them up towards the top of a small hill. Near the peak, he paused, and tugged her to stand next to him. In front of them was a small cave with a fire already burning inside.

"Come on, I've gotta get the meat on before I run out of wood."

Lucy allowed herself to be pulled along as Natsu ducked to enter the cave. There were several long skinny sticks laying on the ground and he quickly got to work wrapping the meat around them and placing them over the fire.

"How did you know we'd need a different cave?"

"I didn't, but this one has a better starting point for us in the morning, and there was already enough wood nearby for a fire."

Lucy glared at him as she grumbled about wasting time, before she sat next to the fire. She scooted close, willing her limbs to thaw out. As she visibly shivered, Natsu stood from his spot to come to sit behind her and pulled her into his arms. "Natsu… what are you doing?"

"Trying to keep you warm, silly." He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her torso. "You're shivering. I can't have you freezing to death, can I?"

Lucy didn't even consider fighting his embrace as his warmth instantly enveloped her. Instead, she sighed and snuggled closer to him as the cold was slowly chased away.

As she watched the fire crackle, browning the meat suspended above the flames and warming her toes, she decided that getting lost wasn't so bad if you did it with the right person.

* * *

"In case you change your mind-"

"We're not flying, Natsu."


	26. Chapter 26

**I need a nice long nap and a big plate of fettuccine alfredo with chicken, side of garlic bread. And a massage. (Little man took a long nap today! Enjoy the fruits of my labor.)**

**alice 0: When I first started, I wasn't sure where I wanted it to go. At this point, I'm still kind of on the fence about whether they'll end up being just friends or if it'll be more. Not to be coy, but I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out!**

**EchizenRyoma: I'm not sure who you mean by 'others', but she has no connection to the demons, dragons or the demon world, except through her contract with Natsu. Hope that answers your question!**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy curled further into herself as she felt a cold breeze over her already numb face. Teeth chattering, she opened her eyes to discover that it was completely black around her. After she sat up, she reached out around herself, trying to figure out where Natsu was. As she adjusted her hat on her head, she finally realized that she could hear the wind blowing fiercely outside the cave, and the cold hitting her face also contained snow.

"Natsu?"

From a distance, she heard him respond. "Just stay inside, Lucy! I'm trying to build up a barrier for the cave so the snow stops coming in."

"Great," Lucy mumbled as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Not only did we get lost on the mountainside and have to spend the night in a cave, there's a freaking blizzard." A shiver passed through her whole body. "And my heater is outside in the cold."

She carefully scooted away from the opening of the cave, as far away as she could get, and then curled in on herself again. Her fingers and toes were numb, so she tucked her hands under her armpits and then leaned forward with her legs crossed so her torso was as close to her feet as she could get. Briefly she considered getting up and doing some jumping jacks or some other exercise, but she knew the ceiling of the cave wasn't very high and didn't want to hit her head. Instead, she did her best to keep herself warm while reminiscing about the hot bath she'd had the previous night.

By the time she heard Natsu return, she was certain her toes were frostbitten. Her teeth were chattering too hard for her to speak, so she just grunted as he called her name. "I built up a wall and covered the entrance, so until morning we won't be able to leave. It's pretty bad out there, so you should stay in here anyway, though." Lucy grunted again, her arms so numb she couldn't tell if she was still hugging herself.

"Lucy, you okay?" Something touched her arm, or at least she thought it did, and then she heard him curse. She thought she heard him mumble something about Erza, but before she could even think to ask, his scarf was being wound around her neck and he was pulling her away from the wall to slide behind her and wrap his limbs around her. As he surrounded her with his body, she could have sworn the air around her began to heat up. "Damn it, Luce, why didn't you call for me if you were this cold? At this rate you're going to get frostbite or worse."

Lucy tried to answer him, she really did, but it was hard to talk through the spasms coursing through her body. He seemed to understand, so he stopped talking and just worked on warming her up. After a while, he started to talk to her. He spoke of little things, of growing up with a dragon father. Pulling pranks on other demons and dragons when he and his father were bored. Of meeting Happy, and Wendy and Carla.

He talked about the stories his father would tell him about his mother, always different, and why she was gone. He talked about how he'd once run away to a different level of the demon realm and Happy had barely saved him from a losing battle against an ice demon. He talked about how he often felt lost when he was home, not sure what he should do with his life since he was an outcast and not wanted among the dragons or the demons.

Lucy swore that she spoke, too. She thought she had mentioned her father, and growing up with him after her mother had passed. It was possible she mentioned how he'd tried to have her brought home by a shady gang in town that had ended up kidnapping her instead and held her for ransom. He had gone quiet during that story, she thought, and the heat had increased for a while after that.

She thought maybe she'd told him those things. Things she'd downplayed to her friends growing up. A kidnapping she'd outright lied about and hidden. Her freedom, which had come not from her father learning his lesson, but out of guilt at having her kidnapped.

Or, as she found herself dreaming, maybe she hadn't told him. Maybe they had just been things she'd dreamed as she basked in the warmth that only he could provide in that cold, desolate place.

* * *

Natsu was getting antsy. Lucy had been sleeping much too long. She was usually an early riser, and while she had been up for a while during the storm, she should have woken up by now. He wasn't sure how late it was, but the sun had been up for a few hours and they needed to get moving so they could get back and not spend another night on the mountain.

He didn't care what she said. If they didn't find anything before midday, he was going to fly them around until they found the lodge. Lucy needed food and warmth, and while he had done okay during the night, he knew that he couldn't keep it up forever. Increasing his heat wasn't hard, but it did drain his magic, and it was dangerous for him to get too low.

His shoulder was twitching, and Natsu was unable to make it stop. He'd wrapped his scarf around his fist once the sun had come up, needing the contact, but the itchy feeling was only going to get worse the longer he went without it around his own neck. Added to that, her stories about her controlling father, and the men who had kidnapped her were still fresh in his mind. Ever since she'd confessed to him, he'd been a burning ball of rage, desperate to get up and do something, _anything_, to work through the energy that had built up inside him. He was positive he'd never been so angry. Lucy had seemed only be slightly aware of her surroundings as she spoke, most of her rambling in quiet mumbles that he had to strain to understand.

He'd understood enough, though, and now he was positively furious. Once they were back, he had every intention of calling Loke again and making every threat and promise he could to get the information that he needed to find the men that had hurt his Lucy so badly.

Natsu froze, his shoulder going still as he considered his words. _His Lucy?_ That was an odd thought. Lucy wasn't his any more than he was hers. Sure, she was his master, but he'd had others. He could safely say she'd never been contracted to another demon, but that didn't make him hers.

Did it?

Natsu decided couldn't take it anymore. Between his thoughts and the pent up aggression, he was a ticking bomb, and if he didn't get up soon, he was liable to combust, and Lucy would get hurt if he did. He grabbed Lucy by both shoulders and shook her. "Lucy. Lucy, it's time to get up." She sighed quietly before rolling onto her side, tucking her head under Natsu's chin. "Come on, Luce. This has been fun, but it's time to get going."

He pulled her head away from his and watched as her eyes slowly opened. The barrier he'd built across the cave opening had thawed and frozen because of his heat, and the resulting ice allowed for plenty of light to fill the small space. Her chocolate eyes were warm and soft, and she seemed to stare into his soul as she slowly woke up.

As he carefully smoothed out her hair, he marvelled again at how pretty his master was. It wasn't just her looks, either, but her whole person. She was so amazing, he often found himself wishing that each day wouldn't end, because with each one that did, the end of his contract drew closer and closer. He hadn't been looking forward to that since they'd formed the contract, but he found that his reasons why had changed slightly.

As the sleep finally left Lucy's eyes, her cheeks reddened. She looked away as she quickly sat up, her hands coming up to rub at her eyes and hide her face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to oversleep."

Natsu shrugged his shoulder, which had started twitching again, as he finally stood up. Jittery, he paced across the cave, stretching out as much as he could in the small space. "You were tired, it's understandable."

Lucy stretched a little on her own as she stood and walked his way. "Here you go," she said, unwinding his scarf. "I appreciate you letting me use it, but I don't want to hang on to it too long. I know it means a lot to you." Natsu had to force himself not to snatch it from her hands as he thanked her. Once it was wrapped around his neck again, he felt a little better. He wasn't as twitchy, but the rage and desire to break something hadn't gone away.

Turning towards the covered opening, he clapped his hands together. "Well, suppose we'd better get going, huh?" With no other warning, he moved forward and began to punch through the ice, slowly making his way through the outer edge of the barrier, until the whole thing was loose. With the snow build up outside, it didn't fall either way. Instead, Natsu used the ice door to push the snow away from the entrance. Once he was several feet away, he looked back towards Lucy. "I think getting down is going to be rough. I'm not even sure which way the bear's cave is from here."

Lucy forgot all about her desire to pee as she moved to join him in the open air. With the bright sun, she regretted not putting on her sunglasses right away. As she blinked through the brightness, she found herself in awe of their surroundings.

Everything was white. Every mountain and hill top, every tree, every plant, even the pines that were scattered around them were so covered in snow that their true colors barely showed through. "Wow," she whispered.

"I know. I'm really sorry-"

"This is amazing, Natsu." Natsu stopped as he looked her way, only to be floored by the smile that now dominated her face.

Lucy couldn't remember ever seeing anything so beautiful. Sure, the circumstances that had gotten them there weren't ideal, but without them, she never would have seen this sight. This beautiful, untouched, breathtaking sight. She looked his way, unable to hide how enthused she was about being there. "Thank you, Natsu. This trip was a great idea. I'm really glad that you brought me."

Words seemed to escape the half dragon as he stared at her, surprise clearly written all over his face. "Yeah…" he eventually said.

She grinned. "I'm going to grab my bag. And if you don't mind moving somewhere else, I'm going to use the cave to pee really quick, too."

"Yeah…" Natsu said, nodding slowly. Seemingly lost in thought, he drug the large piece of ice behind him as he turned and began walking down the hill. Once he was far enough away, Natsu dropped the ice and touched his hands to his face. _Why are my cheeks so warm?_

The half dragon looked around himself, feeling confusion settle in further. He'd become used to the feeling since he'd been summoned, but this time it wasn't because of something happening around him. He was reacting to Lucy, he was sure of it, but it was different than usual. He didn't usually think too much about his feelings, and he still found it a waste of time, but he felt… different than he ever had before.

Normally, he had two feelings about things. Either he liked them, or he didn't, and he never thought about it past that. He avoided the things he didn't like and surrounded himself with the things he did. It was an easy life, and he liked it that way. Right now, however, he wished he had someone to talk to that wasn't Lucy so he could figure out what was going on. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get the image of Lucy's smile out of his head. It was the most pure and beautiful thing he had ever seen, and all he wanted in that moment was to find some way to make her do it again. And again and again and again.

Not to mention, she'd completely erased the anger that had been building up all night. He knew the little bit he'd done to break off the ice hadn't done much to help. He'd been mad enough he wasn't sure even destroying one of the nearby mountains would have been enough to sate his anger, but her smile had erased it all in a moment. Not to say that he wasn't still angry at those men, and if he ever saw them in person, he would make them pay dearly, but the energy that had built up and demanded to be let out had disappeared in the wake of her smile.

Before he could think about it further, Lucy called his name. He turned and watched her carefully making her way down the short slope to where he sat. "So, where to?"

"We're going to stop and get the skis first," he said, his voice a little hoarse. He frowned as he stood, clearing his throat to fix it. "Then we are going to find our way back."

"You got it, captain my captain." When he tilted his head, she only smiled and saluted him. "Lead the way," she said as he continued to stare at her strangely.

He grunted in response and then leaned down to grab the ice in his now transformed hand. After he dug his long nails into the ice, he pulled it along behind him, creating a path that was easier for Lucy to walk through.

They were silent for a long while after they picked up the skis. After choosing a direction, the pair began to walk, searching for something that looked familiar. After a couple hours, Natsu stopped suddenly. He dropped the ice as he looked around, causing Lucy to look as well. "What is it, Natsu?"

"I hear something," he answered.

"You mean like people?"

"No, it's more like-" A loud crack interrupted him and the ground underneath them suddenly shifted. "Lucy, take my-"

Lucy screamed as the ground underneath her suddenly disappeared. A large crack opened up around them, as the snow and ice sheet that had been covering the ravine they were crossing began to fall. As snow and ice began to scrap at Lucy's face, she did her best to fold herself into a ball, protecting her face as well as she could. Barely a moment later, she felt something grab her around her torso and she was jerked to a stop. The snow and ice continued to rain down around her, but she felt herself remain mostly steady. When she finally felt like she was safe, she cautiously opened an eye to look around, but immediately covered her face again.

Natsu was breathing heavy as he held Lucy tightly against himself and watched the land around him settle. There was at least a twenty foot gap between where they had come from and the other side of the ravine he was hovering over, and a dozen or so stories deep. He'd never been good with distances, but he was certain the hole was deeper than Lucy's work building, which had at least fourteen stories.

"Lucy, are you okay?" His voice was hoarse again, but he didn't try to fix it this time.

She nodded, but she refused to move her hands from her eyes. "I'm fine," she squeaked.

Natsu flew them back to the other side of the gap that they had come from and set her down. Once her feet were back on the ground, she risked looking again, obviously relieved as she dropped her arms. After moving a ways away from the area of her near death experience, she wrapped around her arms around herself. "That was terrifying."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Natsu sat down as he worked on calming his breathing.

"It's not your- Natsu!" Lucy yelled, her surprise evident. "Your wings!"

Natsu grimaced, but didn't say anything as she moved forward, her hands hovering over him like she wanted to help but didn't know what to do. He knew without looking up what she saw. His wings were fully extended, covered in blood, and probably dripping onto the clothes he'd made for himself.

"Natsu, what happened?!"

"It's nothing," he started.

"Don't," Lucy hissed, finger pointed directly at his face, "lie to me. You don't lie, remember?"

"I'm not, Lucy. It's really okay. It stings, but I'll be okay in a couple minutes."

"What happened?" she asked again.

"Well, it's one of the down sides of being a hybrid. Not everything works like it's supposed to. My wings can come out and I can fold them back up, but it takes me a little time to do it. They don't just spring into action when I need them. So, when I need them at a moment's notice, they have to…" He paused, not wanting to continue but not having much choice with the look she was giving him. "They basically have to rip their way out. So it looks bad, I know, but my body is designed to let them out. It'll only take a few minutes for the slits to heal themselves back up."

Lucy carefully touched one of the wings, and when he didn't seem to be pained by her touch, she sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said.

"But if I hadn't fallen-"

"I still would have had to save myself," he said. "Don't try to blame yourself for this, alright?"

She nodded, but didn't look convinced. He opened his mouth, intent on reasoning with her, but he froze as he heard more noises. These ones farther away, but much louder. Looking around, he finally saw what was coming and Lucy was able to watch his eyes widen in fear. "Luce, come here."

"Why?" she asked, frantically looking around.

"We have to fly again, come over here."

Lucy froze as her face became as pale as the snow around her. "Oh no. No, I can't do that."

"We have to, Luce," he said, moving forward to grab her.

"No, Natsu, I can't."

Natsu stopped and pointed behind her. "Lucy, look at that. We have to, or we're going to get stuck in it."

Lucy didn't turn at first - not until she heard it, too. Once she did turn, she found herself instinctively reaching for Natsu. An avalanche was rapidly making its way down the mountain. The noise from their near fall must have triggered it, and now they were in danger of being buried in it if they didn't get into the air.

Still, Lucy hesitated. "Natsu…"

"Sorry, but I gotta do it." That was the only warning Lucy had before she was once more in his arms and shooting up into the air. A scream tried to make its way out of her, but the speed they were rising forced the sound back into her throat. Instead, she covered her face with her hands and curled her body as close to Natsu's as she could. "Easy, Luce," he said, loud enough for her to hear him over the rapidly approaching snow. "I won't drop you."

"It's not that," she whispered.

"You gotta speak up, Lucy. My hearing is good, but not that good." The rumbling was below them now, and that knowledge further increased her panic.

"It's not that," she said louder. Her breathing became erratic and she tried desperately to ignore the sounds below her.

"Then what's the problem?" Natsu began to worry as Lucy started to freak out. She wasn't trying to get away, but her breathing and heartbeat had quickened and grown irregular. If she did start to panic and thrashed around, he was worried he actually _might_ drop her.

She shook her head as she moved her hands, trying to block out the sounds around them as she squeezed her eyes shut and started to hum to herself.

Natsu was at a loss, but he decided that moving away from the noise would help, so he began to fly away from the avalanche. Since they had to be up in the air anyway, and she wasn't actively fighting him, he decided to do his best to search for their way back before she insisted on being put down.

It was only a few minutes before she finally spoke again and nearly surprised him enough to knock him out of the sky.

"I'm afraid of heights."


	27. Chapter 27

**My husband and I are expecting our second little one in December (yay!) and now that I'm finally through my first trimester and our son is sleeping better, I don't feel quite as tired all the time, so today I skipped nap time to finish this up for you all. I think you'll like it.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"What do you mean you're afraid of heights?"

Lucy continued to keep her face covered as she shook her head. It was bearable as long as she didn't look. If she didn't look, she could pretend that he was just carrying her. While bouncing up and down for some reason.

Natsu sighed. "Lucy, if that's all it is, I can help."

"No, Natsu, it's fine. Just put me down."

"I can't do that, Luce."

"Natsu-"

"Really, Lucy. Do you want me to lose you, too?" Lucy didn't say anything, but slowly, she began to shake her head. "Alright, now don't freak out."

"About what?" she whispered.

Instead of answering, Natsu just squeezed her a little closer and asked, "Do you trust me?"

Lucy didn't even have to think twice. For the first time since they got into the air, she moved her fingers so she could see him. She was close enough that her vision was completely filled with his face, and as she looked into his eyes she nodded. Once he began to grin, she quickly moved her fingers back in place. She felt a tingling sensation where Natsu's arms were wrapped around her, and suddenly, she didn't feel the rocking motion from his flight, or the cold wind against her skin.

As she opened her eyes again, she was standing on a beach. She looked around and saw that it was empty except for a few groups of chairs spaced out near the edge of the trees, and Natsu, who appeared to be standing right next to her. "Natsu… what did you do?"

"It's just an illusion," he answered. "Don't worry, I'll remove it as soon as we're done, but this way you'll hopefully be more comfortable while we're in the air."

As Lucy looked around, she felt her panic increase at the thought that she didn't know what was happening to her body, but as the Natsu beside her took her hand and gave her his signature grin, she felt herself growing more comfortable. "Okay, I'm willing to give it a shot. Just… don't drop me, okay?"

The Natsu beside her laughed as he pulled her forward. "That is never going to happen, Lucy."

For the next hour, Lucy ran around and laughed and enjoyed her time on the beach with the illusion Natsu. They swam in the surf, laid in the sun, and even drank from coconuts that appeared like magic on a tray.

"So, how exactly does this work for you?"

"What do you mean?"

Lucy gestured at him. "How much of the illusion is really you?"

A large beach ball appeared in Natsu's hands and he tossed it her way. "Well, physically, I'm not doing what you see me doing. The illusion is created by my magic, and my clone acts the way I would act. I can't see what you see, so if you asked me to do something, the illusion would act according to how I respond. The only part of it that's directly me is my voice."

"Do you only do beach scenes?"

The illusion before her tossed the ball high, making it more difficult for Lucy to catch. "No, I can do others. I can do pretty much any place I've seen before." The illusion dodged the ball as Lucy chucked it at his head. "Is there a place you wanted me to show you?"

Lucy lit up, the answer coming to her immediately. "Can I see your home?"

The illusion and Natsu's voice both paused for a long moment. "Why… would you want to see that?"

She shrugged, her natural responses still occurring even though Natsu couldn't see her. "I'm just curious."

The ball disappeared. "Do you mean the demon realm or a house?"

Lucy hesitated a moment as she considered his words - _a house_ instead of _my house_. "The realm. You said humans wouldn't survive the heat there, right? Well I think I can handle an illusion."

Illusion Natsu continued to look uncomfortable. "I guess, if you want, I can show you sometime." Suddenly, he lit up. "I found it! Do you want to see or should I wait until I land to remove this?" Illusion Natsu gestured around himself.

"When you land, please," she responded. While she waited, Lucy allowed herself one more long look at the half naked Natsu in front of her. He really was spectacular. She'd had to catch herself more than once to keep from touching him too much while they played.

Before she could lose the chance, she threw herself forward into fake Natsu's arms and hugged him. The illusion hugged her back, hard, and swung her around before putting her back on her feet. He only grinned as she slowly pulled away, her hands covertly running over his chest and stomach.

His reactions reinforced that she was in an illusion. She had no doubt if she had done the same thing in real life he would have laughed, maybe even called her a weirdo. She grinned up at him and patted his cheek.

Fake Natsu raised an eyebrow at her, but she only smiled wider as she removed her hand. "I'm excited to go back." There was no response for a moment, and Lucy began to worry. "Natsu?"

Natsu fought to find his breath as he landed more roughly than he'd intended. He found that he almost regretted loosening the restrictions on the illusion at the end. Once he'd seen the lodge, he'd opened the connection between the two of them to conserve some of his magic. He'd allowed her body to respond some to her actions in the illusion and cut off the physical block between himself and his illusion self. He'd been so surprised by the hug she'd given him, both in the illusion and in the physical world, he hadn't known what to do.

On top of that, the hand she'd laid on his cheek had been… surprising. Surprising and soft and what he wanted more than anything at that moment was to prolong the contact between her skin and his. She said his name a second time and he almost cursed himself for telling her he'd found the lodge.

Lucy said his name again, her worry obviously growing, but instead of dropping the illusion, he asked her, in a voice that was more hoarse than he'd ever admit, "Can you… do that again?"

Lucy looked confused. "What do you mean?"

He swallowed as he considered his response. "Whatever you just did… I think I might have felt it. It was kind of weird, can you do it again? I wanna see if I was imagining it."

Lucy stared up at illusion Natsu and quickly considered her options. She had been certain that he wouldn't feel anything she did. He'd said that physically there was no connection, otherwise she would have kept her hands to herself. If she did it again, and he _did_ feel it, what would he think? She'd never touched him in such a way in the real world, so he would be sure to want answers, but did she even have any to give him?

Illusion Natsu grabbed her by both shoulders and looked down at her with the most intense look she'd ever seen in this Natsu's or the real one's eyes. "Please, Luce?" Lucy gulped, but decided that she had no reason to be scared or nervous, so she reached up and carefully placed her palm against his cheek.

Natsu couldn't help himself. He adjusted his grip on Lucy and raised a free hand to cover hers, not knowing or caring if the action caused his fake self to do the same as his eyes fluttered closed and he leaned his face into her touch.

He felt so strange as he stood there with her hand on his face. A touch had never affected him so much before, for as long as he can remember, a touch had always just been a touch, but now…

He'd never felt so at peace, never felt so centered, never felt so… _good_.

Whatever magic was at work was affecting him in a way he'd never been before. He caught himself before he could start purring, a surefire way to let Lucy know something was up. Much sooner than he would like, he let her hand go and pulled back.

After a moment, Lucy cleared her throat, her glazed eyes focusing again. "So? Did you feel anything?"

Natsu couldn't seem to find the words to respond to her. He found he didn't want to talk about it, not yet, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to her. It might have been a cowardly move, but he decided to distract her instead of answering. "Get ready. The transition is going to be a little rough."

"What do you me - _holy shit is it cold!_" Lucy was suddenly thrust back into her regular body, where she was surrounded by cold and snow and a fully dressed Natsu. "Holy crap, I forgot how cold it was."

"That was the other reason I sent you to the beach. I know you like warm places more than cold. I thought it would be a treat."

Fully distracted from their strange interaction, Lucy began to hop up and down in place. "So, where is the lodge? You said you found it."

Natsu nodded as he pointed. "It's a little ways passed that hill. I couldn't land too close because there are people skiing over there."

Lucy didn't have to be told twice. Without even waiting for him, she began to quickly make her way through the snow in the direction he'd pointed. It took them almost half an hour before they finally crested the last hill and found the large log building again.

"Oh thank god," Lucy whispered as she jogged the rest of the way to the front door of the building. Natsu followed close behind, reaching the door just before her so he could open it. Once they were inside, Lucy went to stand next to the fireplace where there was a fire already burning. Before Natsu could join her, the man at the desk drew his attention.

"You're back!" He quickly rounded the desk and came to stand in front of Natsu. "When no one checked you two back in last night, we had to search for you on the cameras and then sent out a search party to look for you! The storm forced them to return before they could make much progress but they went back out this morning as soon as the sun rose to continue the search! Where on earth did the two of you go?"

Natsu was flabbergasted as to how he should respond, not having been aware the lodge kept such a close eye on their guests, but before he could respond, Lucy had joined them.

"We're really sorry," she said, hands clasped together in front of her chest. "We decided to try out one of the less travelled paths and got a little lost. We found a cave to stay in during the night and then managed to find our way back this morning. I didn't have my phone, so we had no way to reach out. I apologize for the inconvenience."

The man waved away her apologies. "It's really no problem, miss. Our first priority is to our guests and their safety, so our time is never wasted so long as you make it back here safe. We recently had a series of storms that knocked down many of the signs scattered across the mountain, so the trails are harder to navigate while we work on getting them put back up. Please, allow me to comp your dinner this evening, as an apology. Either as room service or in the restaurant, whichever you would prefer."

Lucy glanced up at Natsu. "Oh, I don't know if-"

"That sounds great," Natsu said quickly. "I think room service, if you don't mind. This little lady needs to get into a nice hot bath and warm up." When both the young man and Lucy blushed slightly, Natsu wondered what he could have said to cause such a reaction, but Lucy interrupted him before he could say anything more.

"We'll probably order something soon. We're both pretty hungry."

The man nodded. "Excellent. I will make a note in your file. You won't have to do anything more than give them your room number and they will know not to add it to your bill. Please again, accept my apologies on behalf of the entire lodge. I hope the remainder of your stay is a pleasant one."

"Thank you," the pair said before moving towards the elevator. As they left, they heard the clerk return to his desk and make a call.

Lucy sighed as the doors closed. "I wasn't expecting to be bombarded like that as soon as we returned."

"I wasn't aware they kept such a close eye on people. It makes sense, I suppose, but I just didn't expect it."

Lucy hummed as she leaned back against the wall of the elevator. "I'm really excited for a bath."

Natsu chuckled. "I can imagine. Do you want me to help warm it up? I'm much faster than a heating system."

She shook her head with a grin. "I think I can wait a little longer to make sure it's not so hot I boil."

"I would never do that," he reassured her. The elevator pinged and opened on their floor. As they both exited, Natsu began to dig in his pockets for his keycard. "Besides, I've felt the steam coming out of the bathroom when you've been in it before. I'm not so sure you're not already trying to boil yourself."

"Ha ha," she said, pulling out her own card and opening the door as they reached it. "Now if you'll excuse me," she said, yanking off her outerwear, "I'm going to go take a bath. Please don't order more than five entrees and two desserts for yourself. I'll take something with chicken and noodles."

Natsu saluted her as she headed for the bathroom. "You got it, master." He chuckled when she stuck out her tongue in response before closing the door behind her. As Natsu changed his clothes to something more comfortable, he made his way towards the desk and picked up the menu to scan the options. Lucy had said only five entree…

Grinning at the challenge, he eagerly he pulled a notepad close to him and began to eliminate options.

* * *

As the door closed, Natsu began lifting lids on the food in front of him. "Lucy, the food is here!"

Lucy responded, but he didn't hear what she said. Once he found her tray, he picked it up and went to the bathroom door. "Luce? Want your food?"

"It can't wait," she said.

Natsu's brow furrowed as he called again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay." Still a little uneasy, since she'd never allowed him to enter in the past while she'd been in the bathroom, he twisted the knob and opened it, plate carefully balanced in one hand. "I just wanted to make sure before-"

"_NATSU!_" Lucy's screech echoed around the room, but the noise didn't stop Natsu's eyes from finding what she was hastily trying to cover.

Her pale, wet naked body.


	28. Chapter 28

**Let's talk sex, kids.**

**Not really, but I think I have to up the rating for this story. I'm not sure at what point a story goes from T to M, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. A few swear words and mentioning a naked body feels T to me, but I think this chapter toes the border, so I'm upping the rating with this installment. Also, I'll be adding a little message at the end looking for some feedback. Please give it a quick read before you move on to your next story, if you can, and take a moment to respond if possible.**

**This is a little shorter than I like, but it was a good spot for a break. **

**Also, I went through for funsies and added up reviews and wanted to give a shout out to my top reviewers!**

**Aliciacevbra**

**Sereneserious**

**Ushindeshi**

**CathJorda**

**You guys are all stars. And thank you to everyone else who's reviewed! Each and every one of them make my day, so keep them coming!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy quickly grabbed the robe from the counter and pulled it in front of herself. "Natsu, what the hell are you doing?!" She couldn't help but be embarrassed and angry. When he'd told her the food had arrived, she had immediately gotten out of the tub, her stomach reminding her that she hadn't eaten nearly enough in the last twenty-four hours. The thought of eating in the tub had been a nice one, but she was plenty warm now and didn't want him to bring it to her while she was naked. _Why on earth had he come in?_

She studied him as she made sure she was completely covered. He was completely frozen, his eyes glazed over and unfocused somewhere in the vicinity of her chest. Even his breathing seemed to have stopped. As she watched, his whole demeanor seemed to change. Without doing more than letting out a long breath, he went from shocked to something much more intense. His eyes suddenly flared, changing to a bright gold as they roved over body. His muscles seemed to bunch up and his grip on the door tightened enough that the handle whined under the abuse. He looked ready to jump and Lucy was instantly worried about what he would do.

"Natsu," she said again, quieter this time, "what are you doing?"

As his eyes met hers, he seemed to break out of whatever trance he'd fallen into. Immediately he covered his eyes with the hand not holding her food and turned his back. He curled up into himself a little, no doubt waiting for her to throw something at him like she'd done every other time he'd interrupted her bath. "I'm so sorry! Why did you tell me to come in?! I only came in because you said you wanted your food!"

"What are you talking about? I told you it could wait." Since his back was turned, she pulled the robe away from herself and quickly pulled it on.

"You… said it _could_ wait?"

"Yes, I did."

"Oh…" He rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled quietly. "I thought you said it _couldn't_ wait. That's why I was going to bring it in. I didn't mean to see anything." He continued to ramble on as she tied the robe and leaned down to let the water out of the tub. "If it makes you feel any better, a naked female isn't anything really that weird to me. A lot of demons choose to roam around back home in the nude, so it's nothing I haven't seen before." He seemed to hesitate. "Not… that… you're not… nice to look at? Shit, Luce, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do right now. Please don't Lucy kick me again and just tell me what I have to say to make this better."

When Lucy looked up, he had turned a little so she could see his profile. He was still carefully holding her food in one hand with his other firmly over his eyes. Even with only half of his face exposed, she could see how uncomfortable and sorry he was, and she couldn't find it in herself to be upset with him. "It's okay, Natsu. I know you didn't mean to walk in on me. Next time, maybe just open the door a little bit and ask again, just to make sure you heard me correctly, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." He nodded his head eagerly as he reached behind him to grab the door handle again, eyes still squinted shut. "I'm just going to close this now. Your food will be out here." With that, he closed the door and Lucy was left alone to contemplate what had just happened. Not the part where he'd misheard her, but the part where his eyes changed color and he looked like he was going to jump her if she breathed funny. The thought made her insides clench. He'd looked ready to eat her where she stood, and that thought was not at all a bad one to her.

She stared at the door as she worked on drying the hairs that had fallen into the water, her thoughts running away with her. Sure, she was a human and he was a demon, but he'd told her before, demons could sleep with other races, and it was obvious that he'd liked what he saw. Even if she was embarrassed about it, she could admit to herself that it was the first time she had thought about sleeping with Natsu. It had been a long time for her, and even if she was still pretty inexperienced, she had a feeling he was, too. Maybe they could learn a thing or two from each other?

Still, there had been something weird about how he'd acted during those few moments that he'd stared at her. It had felt like he wasn't quite himself as he studied her. Then again, she didn't know how demons or dragons reacted when they were attracted to someone else. The eye color change might just be something that happened to them when they were… excited.

Lucy wiped away the steam from one of the two mirrors so she could study herself.

If she was completely honest with herself… she could admit that she was attracted to the dragon-demon hybrid. While she'd never imagined herself entering a purely sexual relationship with a man, she found that a growing part of her wanted exactly that with Natsu. Well, not _exactly_ that. They were friends, and she hoped they would remain friends passed the end of their contract. However, that didn't mean that she wouldn't be willing to test the waters a little bit by being physical with him. The memory of his eyes on her made her body heat up in a way a good bath never could, and she quietly cursed herself.

This was nonsense. Those kinds of thoughts were just silly and she needed to get a grip on her libido. It was becoming increasingly obvious that she needed to get a boyfriend. All these thoughts about her contracted dragon-demon hybrid roommate were going to get her in trouble, and she needed to get them under control.

Maybe when she got home, she'd talk to Cana and the girls about getting her a date. It had been a long time, and it was probably half the reason she couldn't seem to stop thinking dirty thoughts about her attractive, temporary roommate.

Once she was sure she had herself under control, she grabbed her dirty clothes and left the bathroom. Natsu was sitting on his bed surrounded by plates but he wasn't eating. Her plate sat with its cover still on on the desk. He watched her warily as she moved towards her bag to switch out for some clean clothes. "What's wrong, Natsu? Did you not get the right food?"

"No no, it's fine. Probably. I haven't had any yet."

She straightened, her clothes in hand. "Why not? Usually you'd have that gone in a heartbeat."

"I know I just… I feel funny. Like I shouldn't eat without you."

Lucy blinked, not at all expecting his answer. "Oh. Well, how about I go change quick and then we can eat? Does that sound like a plan?"

He nodded, looking happier with her suggestion. "Maybe I can find something to watch while you change?"

She gave him a big smile. "That sounds like a great plan. I'll just be a minute."

Natsu carefully hopped off his bed, avoiding knocking over his dishes, and went to the TV to turn it on and grab the remote. Lucy closed the door behind her, changing quickly as she wondered over how she wanted to approach the question she wanted to ask Natsu. Once she was in her comfy pants and shirt, she fixed her bun and hung up the robe before leaving to join Natsu again. He was on his bed again, flipping through channels with a smile on his face.

"I found an animal documentary about the ocean. Can we watch that?"

"Sure, that sounds fun," she answered, grabbing her plate and moving to sit on Natsu's bed. His eyes widened for a second, but he quickly moved over and adjusted his plates so she had enough space. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

"No problem," he answered, his tone careful.

Before he could turn the show on, Lucy reached over and grabbed his hand. "You know I'm not mad at you, right?"

He nodded. "Well, I think I do anyway. I think I'm still waiting to be hit. You don't often get mad without retaliating and I think I'd feel better if you just punched me or something so I quit waiting for it to happen."

Lucy sighed, but picked up one of the pillows and swatted him with it, making him grin. "Better?"

"Yeah, I think so." He grabbed his silverware, grin still in place, and pulled a plate closer to him. "Time to eat, I am _starving_. I could eat a whole herd of cows right now."

She laughed as she turned on the show. "Good thing there aren't any around then. I'd hate to have to keep reminding you not to eat the bones."

As he argued about the difference between cow and pig marrow, she found herself relaxing more than when she'd been in the bath. She could wait, she decided, to ask him about what had happened. Maybe it wasn't a big deal, or maybe she hadn't actually seen anything. At any rate, she decided they deserved this time just to unwind after their trip across the mountain. So she continued to eat her food, laughing at Natsu's evaluations of the different meat bones he'd tried, and his newfound desire to find out if he could outswim a whale.

He was pretty adorable when he got excited about something.

* * *

"Are you sure you wanna go down?" Natsu asked again.

"Yes, Natsu, I think it'll be fun. Plus, they gave out free drink tickets! Why wouldn't we go? We're heading home tomorrow, I think this will be a good way to top off the trip." Lucy touched up her makeup as she listened to Natsu grumble on the other side of the wall. "Is there some reason you don't want to go?"

"It's not that I don't want to go, it's just… nothing." He appeared in the doorway. "It's nothing. Is this appropriate for whatever kind of party this is?"

Lucy glanced over and saw that he was in the same button down shirt, vest and pants combo he'd worn the first day he arrived. "That looks great," she said, looking away quickly. After a quick glance at the mirror, she closed her cosmetics bag and turned to face him. "What do you think of this?"

She'd had to improvise, having not brought anything nice to wear. She'd put on the skirt she'd worn to the airport and added a tight, long sleeved black shirt. She didn't have much for jewelry, but she'd put on the necklace Loke had gotten her long ago, a golden key with the symbol for Leo the Lion of the zodiac. He'd been so excited to give it to her, especially when she'd shown him the one she had from her mother, a nearly identical key with the symbol of Aquarius the Waterbearer. Paired with her long black boots, she thought she looked pretty good for the party the hotel was hosting that evening.

Natsu gave her a quick look and grinned. "You look great, Luce." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Are you ready to go then?"

"Almost," she said. She turned off the light as she passed him and headed for her purse. She grabbed her ID, a credit card and some cash and put it all in her pocket, then rejoined Natsu. "Now I am. Let's go!" Once they were in the hall and the door was locked, Lucy hooked her arm through Natsu's and they walked together to the elevator, chatting the whole way to the lobby. They followed the signs through a few hallways until they made it to a large room in the back of the lodge. Lucy paid for their tickets with the host before they entered the room, where they found themselves in a beautifully decorated space.

It was at least two stories tall with large glass windows opposite the doors that had a great view of the scenery. A long bar was set up against one wall, with a long table covered in food on the opposite side of the room. There was a dance floor in the middle with a few rows of tables on either side between the food and bar. To the left, there was a small stage set up with a few people setting up instruments, no doubt for the band. There were about half a dozen people already milling around, getting food and chatting with the bartenders. Lights had been strung up at even intervals across the ceiling and each table had a small vase filled with flowers.

"Wow, this place looks amazing," Lucy whispered.

Natsu merely nodded as he watched her looking around the room. The room was nice, of course, but he much preferred watching Lucy, especially when her face lit up like it was at that moment. When she suddenly turned his way, her eyes bright and smile wide, he felt his mouth get a little dry. "Hey, you're going to dance with me later, right? I'm a terrible dancer, but I really enjoy doing it anyway."

Before he could answer, an unfamiliar voice called out. "Hey, it's you! Lucy!"

The pair turned towards the bar as a large man started to jog their way. He was wearing a pair of black pants with a nice white shirt and backwards ballcap. He waved as he approached, and Natsu saw the glint from a piercing hanging from his nose.

"Long time no see! I had no idea this is where you were going when you told me about your trip!"

Suddenly, Lucy's face lit up with recognition as she moved to shake the man's hand. "Stier! It's so good to see you again!"

* * *

**HE'S BACK!**

**A/N! So I'm thinking ahead and I would love some input from my readers! Lucy and Natsu's relationship is more than likely going to hit a point where they become physical with each other and I'm curious how in depth you all would like me to go. I can write the smuttiest smut that's ever smut, but if most of you would be uncomfortable with that route, I can certainly skirt over the more intense scenes. I would love some input and will do my best to accommodate as many as I can. Let me know in a review or a PM (if you don't want to publicly ask for your smut fill - kidding,) I read each and every one! Thanks in advance!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Little man is spending time with dad, and I find that I have a lot of time on my hands today. Have a second helping!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy laughed, one hand holding on to the bar to keep her from falling off the stool she was seated on. "I can't believe that! That's insane!"

"It's truuue," Stier said as he laughed with her. He was sitting to her left, while Natsu was seated to her right. He'd been awfully quiet since they'd sat down, but Lucy had been trying not to think about that too hard as she spoke with her one time savior.

"In fact, the ooowner said if we ever came back, we'd better pray it wasn't a day he'd missed his meds or he'd kill us ourselves."

Lucy continued to giggle as she took a sip of her beer. "And you're still friends with this guy?"

"Oh yeah. He's one of my best friends! He acts like he's all sophisticated and suave mooost of the time, but when he's with us and we get a few beers in him, his true colors come out. We always have a great time, even if the cops are called occasionally."

"Stier, I think you need better friends. You know it's possible to hang out with people without getting in trouble with the police, right?"

He seemed to consider her words. "You know, I'm not so suuure about that. Maybe if you looose the booze, then sure, but where's the fun in that?"

"Even without the booze you can have fun, but I wasn't saying you should lose the alcohol. We drink every Friday and have a good time without getting in trouble."

"Is that so?" Stier leaned on the bar to look around Lucy. "This true, Natsu?"

The half dragon didn't look his way, just continued to stare at the bottles on the shelf. "For the most part, yeah."

Stier raised an eyebrow at Lucy who held up a finger in response before turning to face Natsu. Leaning forward, she whispered, "Natsu, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he said.

"You don't seem fine."

He glanced over her shoulder at the man on her other side before meeting her eyes. "I don't like him," he whispered.

"What do you mean? He's been nothing but nice."

"He's too friendly," Natsu griped.

Lucy frowned at him. "That's ridiculous, he's the perfect amount of friendly. He's even being nice enough not to point out that you're being kind of a dick."

Natsu looked away towards the stage, where the band was getting ready to start playing. "I just don't like him, okay? Call it a gut feeling. There's something off about him."

Lucy sighed as she fought the urge to study her new friend. "Natsu, you're not even giving him a chance."

"I'm letting him talk to you, that's as much chance as he's going to get."

"Excuse me?" she hissed quietly. "Natsu, you have _no_ say over who I do and do not talk to. It's not about _letting_ people talk to me, it's about me choosing who I talk to. I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but I don't like it." As the music began to play, Lucy sat up straight again. "You can protect me when you need to, but delegating who I talk to is not your prerogative. Once reasonable Natsu is back, let me know. He owes me a dance."

Lucy spun around in her chair towards Stier. "You wanna go dance?"

"Suuure," he said as he stood and offered his hand. "I'm a terrible dancer, but it's still fun to try, right?"

Natsu could almost feel the radiance of the smile she gave the bigger man as they turned and headed to the dance floor.

As they walked away, Natsu quickly stood and made his way to the door to leave. One hand stamp, walk and elevator ride later, he found himself unlocking the door to their room and searching for Lucy's phone.

Once he found it and unhooked it from the charger, he called Loke. It rang three times before the man answered. "_Hey Lucy! How's the trip going?"_

"It's me, Loke."

The voice on the other line grew hard. "_What do you want, Natsu? Can't you just enjoy your vacation and talk to me once you get back? This is getting ridiculous._"

"Why is there another one here?"

"_I don't know what you're talking about_."

Natsu sighed loudly. "Damn it, Loke, I know, okay?"

"_I still don't know what you're talking about._"

"I know who you are."

"_Yeah, we've sort of been working on becoming friends so I'd hope-_"

"Shut up, would you? Stop deflecting and tell me why there's another one of you here. I know he's here on your orders."

"_Natsu, I still_-"

"Leo, don't mess with me, I'm not in the mood." When Loke didn't respond, Natsu continued. "I know, okay? And I know _you know_ after Halloween, so can we please just stop all the avoiding stuff? Answer my question."

After a little more silence, Loke finally answered. "_Your presence complicates things. You're making my job more difficult, and to compensate for that, I needed to call in an extra hand._"

"Why not use Aries?" Loke made a surprised noise. "Please don't deny it, you let her go by her real name so it wasn't hard to figure out.

"So tell me," Natsu continued. "Why has Leo, the leader of all guardian angels, taken such an interest in Ms. Hearfilia? It must be important if you have _three_ of the Zodiac helping to keep an eye on her."

"_Only, two_," Loke corrected him. "_Aries does not actively help with protecting Lucy_."

"I don't care," Natsu said through gritted teeth. "Tell me why she is so special I have to deal with the pervy Taurus. I'm not surprised, by the way, that the bull angel is so _horny_."

"_That was a lame joke._"

"It wasn't a joke."

Loke sighed. "_It's part of the job, Natsu. We've protected a lot of the Heartfilias over the centuries. I'm just doing my job and following the King's orders._"

Natsu frowned. "That's odd. I've never heard of any family having that much contact with the guardian angels before."

"_It's not something that's talked about a lot, okay?_"

"Why the Heartfilias?"

Loke waited a beat before he responded. "_The king has an invested interest in their family line, and that's all I can tell you. Now drop it before I have to get mean._"

Natsu ignored his warning to speculate. "I'm guessing blood ties, if he's got you _and_ multiple other spirits protecting her." The silence on the other end was enough of a confirmation for Natsu, so he continued. "That doesn't matter to me right now. I want Taurus off this assignment. It's bad enough I have to deal with you, I don't want him around too."

"_You don't have the authority to make those calls, demon._"

Natsu grit his teeth. "You do understand who I am, right?"

"_Yes,_" came the response. "_I've even figured out who you fully are, and it's only my respect for your father that has kept me from petitioning the king to have your contract terminated and have you confined to the demon realm for the next century_." Natsu's teeth snapped shut so loud Loke heard it and laughed. "_What's the matter? You figured out who I was, but thought I couldn't do enough digging to figure out you're the son of the deceased dragon king? I mean it, Natsu. The King has a lot of sway and if I were to ask, the contract binding you to my charge would be erased in no time at all. If I were you, I'd learn to make friends with us angels, at least outwardly, for Lucy's sake. I know she'd feel better knowing that all her friends get along._

"_Now I have to go. Stop breaking into Lucy's phone to call me, it's annoying. You should know by now that I can't avoid any call from Lucy, so I'd prefer it if it was only _her _voice I heard on this line. Have a good evening, Natsu._"

"Wait," Natsu growled. "What happened to those men, the ones who scared Lucy? What did you do to them?"

The chuckle that came over the line made the hairs on Natsu's nape stand on end. "_I did my duty as Lucy's guardian angel. Trust me, they won't be bothering her anymore. And for her sake, I think we should go back to pretending that we don't know what the other is. Sound good? _

"_I'd hate to cause Lucy undue stress fighting with you or letting out your little secret and getting you in trouble with that punishment demon, the one in charge of contracts. What was her name? Erza?_" Natsu gulped at the thought, terrified of facing the red haired female over something like having his demon status revealed.

"_Just remember, Natsu, I have many ways of making your life more difficult. So you keep my and my associates identities to yourself, and I'll do the same with yours. Otherwise, there will be some rather unpleasant changes in your life. Understand?_"

Natsu fought to keep his hold on Lucy's phone loose as he growled into the receiver. Once he was done, Loke merely laughed and bid him goodnight before hanging up. Natsu carefully plugged Lucy's phone back in and went to stand on the small deck outside. The cold wind whipped around him, but he ignored it as he studied his surroundings in the setting sun, desperately trying to control his anger.

A freaking guardian angel. Not only that, but the _leader_ of the Zodiac, their realm's strongest angels. What had he done to deserve so much headache? He made trouble, sure, but he didn't think he'd ever done enough wrong to warrant _this_.

Not to mention the fact that someone contracted to a guardian angel as Lucy was should have had more trouble summoning him - and she'd done it on _accident_.

There was definitely something special about Lucy, and he wanted to find out what it was. Leo hadn't given him much, but he'd given him enough. He would have to talk to Happy about doing some investigating in the demon realm for him, since he was still stuck in the human world.

First things first, he had to mend things with Lucy. He couldn't just stay hidden in their room, sulking while she fraternized with the enemy. Natsu took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the crisp mountain air as he turned around to go back inside. He could make friends, he could pretend, it wasn't that hard. All he had to do was make small talk with the angel and not try to rip his head off. Easy.

Natsu fixed his clothes and hair as he made his way back to the ballroom, where he showed off his stamp and returned to the party. As he moved towards the bar to get another soda, he noticed Lucy and Taurus still on the dancefloor. There were several other pairs there as well, so he had some trouble keeping an eye on her as the man with her spun her in circles from time to time.

He ordered a soda and two beers for the other two, then moved to sit at a table next to the dancefloor. He sipped at his drink as he watched the pair, smiling at how happy Lucy looked, despite who she was with.

As the song ended, Lucy looked his way and smiled as he waved. She pulled on Stier's arm and they came to join him, both sighing as they took a seat. "Where did yooou run off to?" Stier asked. "It looked like you disappeared for a little bit."

"Just took a walk," Natsu answered. "The smell of alcohol is kind of strong at the bar and it was giving me a headache. I left to clear my sinuses a bit."

"Sounds like a solid mooove," Stier said, reaching over to smack him on the back. "I'm glad you seem to be in a better moood."

Natsu's eyes were sharp, but his voice was light as he responded. "Yeah, well, a sensitive nose has its downfalls. I apologize for my earlier behavior. I hope you're still willing to make a go at being friends."

"We could be very goood friends, if you'd like."

The man's smile was just a little too knowing for Natsu's taste, so he turned to Lucy. "I'm sorry to you, too, for being a bear."

"Apology accepted," she said, looping her arm through his. "Now you owe me a dance."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest a little more first?"

"Nope." She finished her drink and then softly slammed it on the table. "Let's go." She pulled on the arm she'd looped hers through and began to drag him out onto the floor. He gave Stier a nod as he followed, content to let her lead. There'd been something in her eyes as she'd looked at him and he wanted to know what had happened.

As they began to dance, slower than the music actually called for, Lucy looked up at him with an unsure expression. "So I need to talk to you about something. Usually I'd talk to Cana or Levy or Juvia but they're not here and I don't have my phone."

"Well you can talk to me about anything," he said. "What's up?"

"Stier asked me out on a date."

Natsu stopped dancing, just stopped moving his entire body, his arms still held away from his sides and one foot in the air. His eyes flashed that same gold from earlier and he lifted his lips away from his teeth. As she watched, he grew more angry, his canines elongating as he began to growl low in his throat. Lucy panicked as she looked around. She didn't know what the hell was happening, but they were surrounded by other humans and she knew for sure that she needed to stop him from doing whatever he was doing.

"Natsu, what's going on?" she whispered. He didn't budge, his expression didn't change. He didn't even act as though he'd heard her. She started to freak out as she saw scales beginning to appear on his neck.

Quickly, she reached forward and put her hands on his cheeks, far enough down to cover the growing scales, and pulled his face to hers. "Natsu, you have to stop. Now. Look at me."

Natsu blinked as his eyes finally focused on hers. Slowly, his expression began to relax. His scales disappeared, his teeth retracted, and his eyes reverted to their regular dark color. He continued to blink, then suddenly seemed to realize how close they were as he gave her a confused look. "Why are you holding my face so close, Luce? Do you do this to the girls, too?"

"Of course not," she said. "I was trying to stop you from going berserk."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lucy blinked up at him as she realized he'd forgotten again. She released his face as she stepped back. "Nothing, I must have been mistaken." They really needed to talk about what was happening to him once they were away from the crowd. She needed to know what kind of triggers to avoid so he wouldn't unknowingly expose himself to the human populace.

"So back to what I said before. Stier asked me out and I don't know what I should do."

She saw his eyes grow hard as they darted towards their table. "You should say no."

"Should I?" she asked. "He's a really nice guy and it's been a really long time since I dated anyone."

"If a date is all you want, I could take you out."

Lucy ignored the way her heart leapt at his words. "While that's a nice offer, Natsu, dates aren't just for friends to go on and hang out. It'd be nice to spend some time with someone who likes me."

"I like you," he said quickly.

She sighed. "Not like that, Natsu. I mean someone who has a romantic interest in me."

Natsu seemed to think about his answer for a long time. They were barely dancing at this point, and as the song ended, they didn't seem to notice, at least until the next one started. It was a slow song, and instead of giving his answer, Natsu reached forward to put his arms around Lucy. "I know how to dance to his one. How about one more before we return to the table?"

Lucy gave him a small smile. "You got it." As she put her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder, she considered staying quiet. It was nice dancing with Natsu, really nice, and she didn't want to ruin the moment with chatter, but she couldn't seem to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm thinking about saying yes."

Natsu's arms tightened around her she could have sworn she felt him begin to vibrate. After a while, he let out a long breath, his heat and smell filling her senses as he finally answered. "You should do whatever you want to do."

Lucy could tell he didn't mean a word, but she appreciated the effort. With a smile, she whispered a thank you as she leaned in closer and hugged him.

Natsu spent the remainder of the evening reminding himself of the many, _many_ laws he would be breaking if he were to kill a guardian angel on human soil without just cause.

In those few moments he wasn't considering the different ways he could kill the angel, he wondered just why the thought of someone else taking his master out, alone, made him so violent and angry.

* * *

**So, lot of stuff happening in this one! It just kind of fell out of my hands onto the keyboard and I couldn't wait to share it. **

**Shout out to ****TheFranticPhantasm** **for being the first to suspect that Loke wasn't human and to ****linithamonre77** **for being the first to guess Loke was Lucy's guardian angel.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Guys, you are all incredible. I appreciate all of your feedback, including the extra love for the story!**

**The responses about more graphic scenes were just as varied as I was expecting, so I have come up with a solution. Once we get to the point where those scenes start, I will be starting up a secondary 'story' that will include the NSFW scenes, so those of you looking for that kind of content will be able to read it if you so choose. I will write the chapter for this version first, so that the younger readers won't miss out on content. Then, instead of just putting the sexy scenes together in their own home, I will write the scenes into the chapter and post the whole thing in the second story. Those ones may take longer for me to get out, but I will post both at the same time, so if you follow both, you should get the updates at the same time and can choose which version to read. Note, while the non-smut readers may miss out on some conversation, I will make sure nothing too important is revealed where you won't see it. I will also make sure to mark each chapter that has a second version so that you will always know it's there. **

**I really would hate to lose any readers over something that's so easy to fix. I hope this will be a suitable compromise, since you guys are all the best and I just want to keep you happy and entertained.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"I'm sorry, you have a date with _him?_" Levy yanked Lucy's phone out of her hand. "Where did you meet him? He's hot!"

Cana was looking at the phone over the blue haired woman's shoulder and snorted as she sat back and took a drink of her soda. "I still think Natsu is better." Her eyes lit up. "Hey, if things work out with you and Nose Ring, can I have a crack at your roomie?"

Lucy glared at Cana as she took her phone back. "No, hands off." She closed her phone and set it aside. "And I met him at the sports shop in town. He also happened to be at the lodge where Natsu and I were staying during our trip to Aspen."

"He just happened to be there, huh?" Levy's eyes lit up. "And did you also just _happen_ to tell him about your trip when you met at the store?"

"Well, yeah, but we didn't have a date yet, so he didn't know when I was going to be there. It was a coincidence."

"I'm sure it was," Levy said, sounding unconvinced. "Well, I hope it goes well for you. Actually, speaking of dates-"

"I'm here!" Juvia rushed across the empty cafeteria to sit in the open seat at their table. "I am so sorry, our meeting ran long. Did I miss Lucy's news?"

"Yeah, but she was only telling us that she has a date with a buff dudebro," Cana said.

"That's not true," Lucy huffed. "Just because he's muscular does not make him a dudebro. Dudebros are assholes and Stier is a really nice guy."

"How do you know he's a dudebro?" Juvia asked.

"Thinks he is," Lucy corrected.

Cana gestured at the blonde. "Lucy has a picture of them from some party at the lodge where she saw him and danced with him."

"It was only a few dances," Lucy said quietly as she unlocked her phone again.

,She handed the phone to Juvia, whose eyes widened as she looked at the picture. "He is rather large, isn't he? How much time does he spend at the gym? Guys like that don't always have the time for a relationship."

"I don't know, he didn't talk about it." Lucy put her phone away, her cheeks pink. "He only mentioned that he works out with his friends when I met him the first time."

"Hmm, Juvia might be right then," Levy said as she propped up her head in her hand. "He might start making you go to the gym with him all the time, and that could interfere with our girl time and I don't think I'm okay with that."

Lucy sighed. "Guys-"

"And what if she started dieting," Cana added. "She might not be able to drink with us anymore and Fridays will be lame. That settles it!" Cana slammed her hands down. "I don't like him, he's not good enough for you, and I demand you get out of the relationship this instance!"

"I agree," Juvia said. "He's changing you too much. If he doesn't like you the way that you are, he doesn't deserve you."

"Enough!" Lucy stood up. "Guys, I'm only going to dinner with him, we're not dating! Can you just calm down please?"

They all smiled. "We're just teasing, Lu." Levy tugged on her friend's hand. "Come on, sit back down. Finish your lunch."

"Fine," Lucy said, "but no more taunting me, got it?"

They agreed and then settled down as they continued eating their food.

"Soooo," Cana spoke up, "should we talk about sex, ladies? I think it's been a while for some of us."

Lucy groaned as she dropped her head onto the table. Levy's small hand appeared on her shoulder. "You know guys, I actually had some news. I also have a date on Friday!"

Lucy gave her friend a grateful smile as the other two began asking questions.

Levy gave them a smile as she sat up straighter and said, "It's Gajeel."

There was a beat of silence and then all three of the other women began speaking at the same time, completely distracted from Lucy's date.

* * *

As Natsu passed by the door of Loke's restaurant for the millionth time, he wondered if he was losing his mind. It was a valid reason for why he was so agitated over the fact that his master was spending the evening with an angel. He shouldn't be jealous of an overgrown, supposedly pure being who could sprout wings of pure white feathers that were absolutely not bigger than his, thank you very much.

As Natsu stopped and stared through the window towards the bar where Loke was currently mixing drinks, he tried once more calm himself down and just go in to talk to the angel. There had to be some sort of law against guardian angels dating their charges. Even if Taurus wasn't her _direct_ guardian, he was helping protect her, which amounted to pretty much the same thing, and Natsu was going to make sure it stopped. There was the little fact that Loke had already suggested they pretend like they didn't know the others identity but he felt that didn't apply in this instance. Lucy wasn't around, and he felt like he should be able to approach the angel about her safety and happiness when it was in jeopardy, which it was. There was no future for Lucy with a guardian angel, and if she ended up really liking the behemoth, she was going to get hurt when he inevitably broke up with her.

That thought helped him to get a firm grip on his anger and he finally entered the building. As Aries looked up from the hostess stand, her smile seemed to fade a little as she glanced around her. "G-good evening, sir. Can I get you a seat?"

"I need to talk to Loke," Natsu said, trying to keep his voice level. Aries was notorious for being the most easily spooked angel in her realm, and while most of the other demons would enjoy mocking the timid being, Natsu had never had any reason to think that she deserved the animosity. "Is it okay if I just go to the bar?"

The woman hesitated and looked over her shoulder. As if she'd called out to him, Loke turned their way and met Natsu's eyes. He lifted a finger and then went back to the drinks he was working on. Aries turned back his way. "Loke will come join us in a minute. Y-you can have a seat if you wish."

"Thank you." Natsu eyed the angel for a while and then went to sit down, seeing that she would no doubt be more comfortable if there was space between them. He tapped his foot impatiently, but true to his word, Loke appeared only a minute later with a smile on his face.

"Natsu! It's great to see you. How was your trip?"

"We need to talk," Natsu said, in lieu of an answer. "Where is your office?"

Loke's smile faded and his expression hardened. "Natsu, I would be very careful about how you treat me in my own house."

"I'm not trying to disrespect you, I just want to skip the false pleasantries and talk."

"What do we have to talk about?" Loke asked.

"The only thing you and I have in common in this world."

Loke seemed to consider him for a moment before he sighed and then gestured at the hybrid to follow him. As they passed the bar, Loke stopped to talk to the bartender for a moment but before continuing to lead Natsu through the kitchen to a hallway in the back, where he opened the door to his office and gestured for Natsu to enter in front of him. Once Natsu was inside the spacious office, he sat in one of dark leather chairs in front of Loke's desk. The space was dark and rich feeling with dark woods and deep red leather covering everything. "Nice office."

"Are you planning on being civil?" Loke asked as he shut the door.

"That will depend on how the conversation goes," Natsu responded, looking over his shoulder at the angel. Loke nodded and then turned towards the door. He pressed against the wall, exposing a hidden panel, where he placed his hand. After the screen scanned his palm, it flashed green and then there was a shift in the room. Natsu glanced around, seeing no changes, but knowing something had happened. "What did you do?"

"We're in the inbetween." The inbetween was a realm that existed between the many different realms, linking them together and allowing for neutral ground for different beings to converse. "This way, at least if you destroy my office, it won't translate to my space in the human world."

Natsu stood with a grin. "It's cute that you're worried about your office instead of your own body."

There was a bright flash of light, and Natsu had to close his eyes to protect them. Once it had settled, he opened his eyes and saw that Leo now stood before him. Natsu could tell his wings were easily twice as wide as the room they were in, even if they were mostly folded in on themselves. Loke's suit had been replaced by an intricate white and gold robe that covered most of the spirit's body, leaving only his hands and face exposed. In the dim light, he could see the angel's skin shimmer, even beneath the now much longer orange hair. Ears on top of the angel's head twitched, and then turned in his direction.

"Tell me," Loke said. "Do you think that you, a mere dragon demon hybrid such as yourself could defeat _me_, the highest ranked guardian angel among the _elite_ of my world? I am one of the strongest beings in my world, second only to the king himself. Why should I be scared?"

Natsu only stared at Leo, not at all impressed by his display. "It means nothing to me that half of my blood is demon. I am the son of the _dragon king_. That alone makes me easily as powerful as you, if not more so."

The angel scoffed. "You don't seem to so mighty to me in your human skin. Why don't you show me your great power? Show me your true form, the one you are rumored to have but refuse to use because it scares the widdle demons in your realm," Leo mocked.

Natsu maintained eye contact with the angel, knowing that if he looked away, Leo would take the action as a sign of weakness. Seeing him in his true form, Natsu decided that the angel's reputation probably had some merit to it. Leo's power was rumored to transcend that of almost every demon in their realm, though none had ever battled the angel to prove it. Fighting between their worlds was frowned upon, almost forbidden. In fact, their interactions in the human world, if they'd happened almost anywhere else, would have been cause for punishment in both realms.

His skin began to itch and his desire to put the angel in his place was almost too much to resist. There was almost nothing he wanted more in that moment than to rise to the bait and put the angel in his place. It had been too long since he'd had a good fight, and he felt the slits where his wings were hidden slide open on their own, stretching his shirt a little as they began to poke through. Maybe he could take a moment, just a little time, to take out some of his frustration on Loke. The angel could no doubt take a beating from him without dying if he held himself back a little, and then maybe he could take a turn on that titan who was out with Lucy…

As he thought of Lucy, the fire left Natsu's body, and his wings slid back into place. He was here for Lucy, not to fight the leader of the Zodiac. No matter how good the idea sounded. Lucy was more important than getting a few blows in on the smug being in front of him.

Natsu sighed as he crossed his arms. "Are you done showing off? This peacock routine is annoying and unnecessary. I came here to talk about Lucy, not watch you fluff your feathers at me," he said in a bored tone.

He could have sworn he almost saw a smile on Leo's face before the angel moved to sit in his chair behind the desk. "Alright, you have my attention. What exactly would you like to talk about?"

"Taurus," Natsu said, sitting on the arm of the chair he'd been in.

Leo frowned. "I already told you, you can't make any demands about him being removed-"

"I want him to stop trying to date Lucy," Natsu said. When Leo looked surprised, he continued. "I'm guessing he didn't tell you that was on his to-do list. Lucy has no future with a guardian angel of your realm so the bull angel has no reason to date her. Best case scenario they stay friends afterwards, but worst case scenario, she actually gets feelings for the perv and he eventually breaks her heart. I want it to stop. I don't care if he sticks around as a friend, but I want the fake relationship stuff to stop. She's my master, and I have every right to ask this as her demon.

"Otherwise, if she were to ask it, or even just permit it, I would be fully within my rights to take revenge on the man who hurt her, emotionally or physically. While I would enjoy that immensely, and because of my bond with her, avoid most of the punishment that would come after, I think you would probably prefer we avoid the whole mess. What do you think?"

Leo sat back in his seat. After a moment, there was another flash and Loke appeared in his human form. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I knew I should have just asked Scorpio."

"And risk that psycho Aquarius going after Lucy? That's not any better." When Loke's eyebrows raised in surprise, Natsu shrugged. "You hear things in the demon realm."

"I don't honestly think that would have happened."

"From what I hear, she's a pretty possessive being, and Lucy is gorgeous. Them just being in the same room might have been enough." Loke looked up sharply. "What?"

The angel just stared at him for a moment, then changed the subject. "I'll have a talk with Taurus. You're right, for once-"

"Hey!"

"-so I will look into the matter and see to it that it's fixed."

"Thank you," Natsu said. "I'm not sure if it's something you angels do a lot but it's a shitty way to do your job."

"It's not common, no, it's just the way Taurus gets around pretty girls. I suppose I should have seen it coming but I thought he'd been joking this time."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.

"He said that it'd be easier to be around her more if he were to date her, but he said it in a way that I thought he wasn't serious. He knows how important this job is, so I thought it was a given that it was a bad plan." Loke rubbed his eyes again. "That angel can be a real handful sometimes."

"You do know I'm around, right?" Natsu felt his wings itching to be let out again. "I can protect Lucy just as well as the lot of you. _And_ I'm doing it on my own," he scoffed.

Loke didn't even look at him. "You know as well as I do that the contract between a demon and their master trumps all other magic until the contract is complete."

"Speaking of…" Natsu leaned back, and folded his arms and legs at the ankles. "The hell, man?"

"What?" Loke asked.

"How long have you been Lucy's guardian angel?"

"Years," Loke answered noncommittally.

"Then tell me, Mr. All-Powerful-Angel, how did your charge manage to _accidentally_ summon a demon, when she shouldn't have even been able to do it on purpose? A guardian angel and demon being tied to a human at the same time causes many problems, for both sides, but mostly for the angel. From what I know, you guys invented some sort of protection aspect to the binding spells and contracts between humans and beings like us just so that this kind of thing can't happen. So how did Lucy manage it? _On accident._"

"I'm not sure," Loke said, but Natsu didn't believe him. There was something in his eyes that didn't line up with his answer and Natsu knew that the leader of the Zodiac was lying to him. The question was if he should push the issue or not.

"If that's all, Natsu, I need to get back to work. I may be a rather powerful being, but I also run a restaurant and have responsibilities that require my attention. Unless," he said, his voice deepening, "you've changed your mind about showing me that other form you keep so well hidden? I would welcome the challenge."

Natsu snorted and then stood up. "You don't know what you're asking, and I'd rather not fight you. You're Lucy's friend and I'd hate to upset her by killing you." Loke opened his mouth, but Natsu continued. "I got what I came for, so if you don't mind, I'd like to leave. I'm busy too you know."

Loke grinned as he stood and walked back towards the door. "You know Natsu, under the right circumstances, we might actually be able to be friends."

"Don't get your hopes up, angel, I'm not in the market for more friends right now."

The angel chuckled as he opened the panel and put his hand on the scanner. "I appreciate your honesty, Natsu. It's a rare thing in this day and age, especially among demons."

"Well, I've always thought I was a little more dragon than demon," Natsu said, a small smile finding its way through.

On the way out of the hallway, the pair were silent, at least until they made it to the bar. Loke lifted the counter and joined the other bartender, then turned Natsu's way. "I'll have it taken care of by the end of tomorrow, you have my word."

Natsu nodded at the angel and then grinned. "Don't work too hard."

"Don't think I ever could," Loke responded with a matching smile.

As Natsu gave Aries a nod and finally left, he found that he felt much better than he anticipated. He'd even managed to avoid getting drawn in by Loke's taunting, which had always been a hard thing for him to do. Natsu wondered if maybe the air of the human world was getting to him. Even he had noticed that he'd been acting strange lately, and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

Fighting the urge to head towards the cafe across town, where he knew a certain date was happening, he decided to head home. He could start researching for his next trip, and maybe find somewhere a little less dangerous to take Lucy this time around. Natsu smiled and even hummed a little to himself as he began his walk back to Lucy's place.

* * *

Australia. That was definitely where they were going next.


	31. Chapter 31

**I just feel weird about this one. I can't quite put my finger on what it is I don't like. Hopefully you still enjoy it. Also, Happy is back!**

**Larissa: The increased rating is a just-in-case move. There will be ****no sex scenes** **in this version, but future makeout scenes might get hot and heavy. It's purely to cover my tail.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"So you never did tell me why you were in Aspen," Lucy said as she took a bite of her dessert. The cafe Stier had chosen was still fairly new and it was Lucy's first time visiting. Their menu was small, but rather diverse, and their dessert selection was to die for. She smiled up at her companion as he finished chewing.

"It was a spur of the moment thing," he eventually said. "After I talked tooo you, I guess I just got an itch to go skiing and since no one was available to come along, I just went on my ooown."

Lucy frowned. "I'm sorry that you had to go on your own."

"Oh, it's nothing really. I work alone all the time, so I'm uuused to it."

"What do you do?" Lucy asked. They'd talked for almost two hours already, and she felt like she still knew so little about the man across from her.

"I do deliveries," Stier answered, then took a sip of his coffee. "I drive truck and make deliveries all over town, actually. My buddy got me intoo it after one of his delivery drivers quit unexpectedly. The company needed a quick replacement and he suggested me to them and they called that night."

"Is your friend a manager or something at one of the restaurants in town?" Lucy asked as she took a drink of her water.

"Oh, no, he's actually the owner. Have you ever been tooo Loke's Celestial Dining?"

Lucy barely managed to get her napkin in front of her mouth as she spit out her water. Stier stood up slightly so he could lean across the table and pat her on the back. "Luuucy, are you okay?"

Lucy nodded and coughed a few times to clear her throat. Once she was able, she spoke again. "I'm fine, really." She took another sip of her water and then looked up at Stier. "Are you telling me that you're friends with the owner of that restaurant?"

"Yeah," Stier said with nod, still looking a little worried. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Loke is one of my best friends. My best male friend, in fact."

"Really?" Stier lit up. "That's amazing! How have we never met each other befooore now? I make deliveries there three times a week, I'm surprised I've never seen you before."

"I go every Monday, so I'm guessing you don't deliver that day."

"You would be right," Stier said as he cleaned the last of his plate. "Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are my delivery days. OH! You even told me that you hang out with your friends on Fridays and he's invited me mooore than once to join you guys. I can't believe I didn't put that together." He sighed and then ran his hand through his hair. "Man, I am really stupid."

Lucy leaned forward to grab onto his free hand. "You're not stupid at all, Stier. What are the odds that we'd be friends with someone as long as we both have without having ever met? It's no surprise to me that neither of us made the connection."

He smiled at her and then moved his other hand to take her free one. "Youuu know, I'm really glad that we met now. Even if the potential has been there for a while, I think I prefer meeting you this way. I'm not suuure I would have agreed to a date if I'd known you were one of Loke's Friday crowd."

Lucy leaned back a little and pretended to be offended. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Stier grinned as he tightened his hands. "I've heard some stories about you guys."

"That was most likely Cana, and sometimes Levy or Juvia. I am always on my best behavior when we go out."

"I don't know if I believe that," he said with a smile. "I think I sense something in you that wouldn't say nooo to doing something crazy after a few drinks."

"Well, you're wrong," Lucy said. "I'm rather boring, actually, and not at all adventurous."

"Oh really?" Stier briefly let go of her hands and moved his chair so it was next to her instead of across the table before taking her hands again. "I think I'd like tooo test that theory."

Lucy leaned toward him with a grin. "How exactly would you like to do that?"

Stier leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Truth or Dare."

Lucy snorted. "Isn't that a little too middle school for people our age?"

Stier stayed close as he gave her a challenging smile. "What's the matter? Scared?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes and then leaned even closer to whisper, "Dare."

He grinned. "I dare you to dooo something you wouldn't normally do on a first date."

"What?" Lucy felt her face warm as Stier continued to look down at her with that maddening glint in his eye.

"You heard me," he said. His tongue came out to lick at his bottom lip. "I dare you to dooo something you wouldn't usually do on a first date."

Lucy's eyes darted to his before going back down to his lips. She knew what he was really asking for, but could she bring herself to do it? It wasn't that she didn't like him - he was attractive and funny and nice, and really hard not to like - but she wasn't sure if she liked him enough to kiss him yet.

As she met his eyes again, the challenge lurking in those dark depths made her decision for her. She looked back towards his mouth, and as she started to move forward, she saw his smile grow triumphantly. "Is that really want you want to dooo?" he murmured.

Lucy found that her voice wouldn't cooperate, so instead she nodded. After a moment, she leaned forward again. He stayed still and she kept her eyes open just a slit so she could see. Just before their lips touched, she saw him pull away from her.

She jerked back as she looked up at Stier, who was avoiding looking at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done that. It's obvious you didn't want tooo, and I shouldn't have teased you like that. I apologize."

It took Lucy a moment, but once she'd gathered her wits, she shook her head. "No, that's alright, really. I wan-"

Stier stood and gave her a small smile. "How about I walk you home? It's late and I don't want you getting harrassed on the way."

Still embarrassed, Lucy grabbed her purse and stood up. "Sure, that'd be really nice of you."

"Great. I'm just going to go pay for our foood and then I'll meet you outside." He didn't look back as he turned away and headed towards the register.

Shoulders slumped, Lucy made her way out of the cafe and stood near the front door. As she waited, she looked up and searched the stars above her. Again she found herself wishing she lived somewhere with less lights so she could enjoy the night sky. She'd found three full constellations before the door opened beside her.

Stier gave her a smile as he gestured down the street. "Shall we?" He didn't offer his arm, like he had on the way there, nor did he walk as close as they made their way towards her home. They spoke on and off as they walked, not talking about anything important, until they arrived at her door.

Lucy had her mouth open to say something, but Stier beat her to it. He took her hand closest to him and shook it as he said, "I had a great time, Lucy. I hope the foood was okay? I know the place is new but I'd heard great things about it."

"It was just fine," she said. "I had fun, too."

"Great." He gave her a big smile. "Maybe I'll join Loke next time he invites me tooo your Friday bar gatherings, how does that sound?"

"Oh, uh, well, that's fine, I suppose."

"Great." He started to walk away as he waved. "Good night, Luuucy."

"Good night," she murmured with a wave. As he made he way back into town, Lucy turned to unlock the door, but was met with a narrow eyed roommate instead. "What do you want, Natsu?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, glancing out the open door towards where Stier was still visible. "Just wanted to make sure he didn't try anything funny."

"I'm not sure what you would categorize as 'funny' but nothing happened and nothing probably will." Lucy made her way roughly past Natsu as she threw her purse and kicked off her shoes before making her way towards her room.

Natsu followed close behind, worried. "Luce, did he do something to you? You seem upset."

"No, Natsu, he didn't do anything, and that's the problem."

He stopped in the living room, completely confused. "I don't understand."

Lucy rounded on him, angry tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I'm saying that he was charming and nice and sweet, and he flirted with me as though he really liked me, but when I went to kiss him he clammed up and then ended the date as quickly as he could, okay? So you don't have to worry about him anymore, he clearly doesn't like me like I thought he did."

"Lucy…" Natsu moved forward and pulled her into his arms. She tried to resist, but he refused to let her go. After a while, she stopped trying to escape and just stood there with her arms at her sides. Before long, she had her arms around him as well, and she was crying almost silently against his shoulder. He kept whispering to her, "I'm sorry, I wish I could fix it, I wish it hadn't happened, I wish he hadn't been an idiot," until the words ran together.

When she'd finally run herself out of tears, she leaned away and wiped at her face. As she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting with Natsu on the couch. Apparently he'd moved them at some point while she'd been crying, and she was grateful. She took a few deep breaths to try to catch her breath as Natsu rubbed her back. Lucy vaguely wondered where Happy was, but then decided she was glad he didn't seem to be around. Ever since he'd been summoned back, he'd been acting strange, and she was sure she didn't want to listen to whatever he would say seeing her break down like she was.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said.

Lucy shook her head, feeling tears begin to fill her eyes again. "I just… I get asked out by weirdos and jerks at the bar all the time. Or I did," she amended, "until you showed up and scared them all off."

"You're welcome," he said, making her smile.

"I just… no decent guys ever ask me out. There's always something about the guys I've dated that just makes me want to chew off my own arm if it would get me out of the date sooner. Either they're assholes, or they're so full of themselves, they seem to forget I'm there, or they only like me because I'm pretty, or they just want to try and get in my pants. It's…" Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look at Natsu as she spoke. "What's wrong with me? What is so wrong with me that I can't attract just _one_ decent guy?"

Warm hands grasped either side of her head and pulled her face up. She opened her eyes to see Natsu's intense ones only a few inches from her own. "There is _nothing_ wrong with you, Lucy, do you understand me?"

"I don't know-"

"_Nothing._ Tell me you understand, Lucy."

Lucy swallowed, unable to stop the quiver in her lip as she nodded.

Natus wiped at the tears that escaped before speaking again. "You are more than just a pretty face, okay? If those idiots are too dumb to see how amazing and wonderful you are when they have you all to themselves, then _they_ are the ones at fault, not you. _Never_ you, Lucy. You are smart and kind and generous and forgiving and beautiful and talented and so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are the most extraordinary human I have ever met, and I will not sit here and let you belittle yourself like that, do you understand me?"

Lucy giggled as she nodded. "I understand."

"Good." Natsu moved his hands slightly so he was cradling her face instead of just holding her head. "Now, if I hear those kinds of negative comments come out of your mouth again, I will sit you back down on this couch and I will tell you again just how spectacular you are, got it?"

She nodded as she smiled up at him, thankful, not for the first time, that he'd shown up in her life. As he continued to stare down at her, she saw his eyes waver again. This time, instead of a flash, his eyes slowly lightened until they were that familiar, rich gold.

Lucy's breath caught in her throat at the tender look Natsu gave her. He carefully ran his hands up her face towards her hair, where he buried his fingers in the soft strands as he leaned forward. His forehead came to rest gently against hers, and then he tilted his face to run his nose against her temple. Lucy remained frozen as he continued to rub his face softly against hers, a soft purr rumbling in his chest. He ran his face down hers to her jawline, and then buried his nose against her throat. As he breathed her in, the soft purr became louder and louder until she could hear nothing else. His fingers began to move in her hair, running carefully through the strands as he continued to cuddle against her neck.

Goosebumps ran up and down Lucy's body and she had to fight to hold perfectly still. It seemed that her moving or talking were what knocked him out of these phases and she found that, in that moment, she didn't want it to stop just yet. Natsu tilted his head again, and Lucy could have sworn that Natsu's purring had invaded her entire being. She could barely feel anything through the vibrations running through her body. He carefully tilted her head, his face buried against her skin, and then his tongue came out to run along the flesh he'd exposed.

Unable to stop it, a moan slipped through Lucy's parted lips, and suddenly, Natsu froze. He pulled away, rapidly blinking his eyes as he studied her. "Sorry," he said, pulling his hands out of her hair. "Not sure how those got up there. I only meant to hug you."

Lucy swallowed as she fought her body's urge to yank him back against her. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that-"

"Natsu!" Happy appeared suddenly next to the pair. "Hey, you said you were going to come back after you grabbed a snack. What are you still doing out here?"

"Sorry little buddy, but Lucy had a bad night and I was trying to help." He gave her a smile. "You feel better, right?"

"I… I guess so. Happy, if you don't mind-"

"Hey Natsu, I want something to drink, can you get me some water?" Happy didn't even look Lucy's way as he spoke.

"Can't you just do it yourself?" Natsu asked.

"I would, but it's hard in this form, and I'm supposed to avoid my other one around here, remember?" Happy folded his paws in front of him as he widened his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip. "Please? For your best friend?"

"Ugh, fine! Put that lip away, you know I hate when you do that."

"Thanks a bunch!" As Natsu headed into the kitchen, Happy moved to sit next to Lucy. "Lucy, I need a favor," he whispered.

"What is it, Happy?"

Happy waited until Natsu was running the water before he flew up right in front of Lucy's face and spoke to her so quietly she almost couldn't hear him. "Don't mention the yellow eyes thing, okay? Please? I can't tell you what's going on, but he's gotta work through it on his own, okay? So just don't say anything to him. Knock him out of the trances whenever you want to, but just don't talk to him about them, okay? Please?"

"But Happy-"

"No buts," he said, putting a paw over her mouth. "I can explain later, Lucy, but for now, he has to figure this out on his own. Please don't say anything. Please."

Natsu came back into the room, glass in hand. "Here you go, little buddy."

"Thanks Natsu, you're the best!" Happy took a long drink, smacking his lips once he was done. "I'm going to head back to your room, I'm getting sleepy. Don't stay up too late, Lucy!" With that, he grabbed his water and flew off towards their room.

"Silly demon," Natsu said with a grin as he turned her way. "So, are you good now?"

Lucy glanced after Happy. She was surprised when the word yes came out of her mouth. "I'm much better. Thank you, Natsu."

"No problem!" Natsu gave her his signature grin before saying good night and heading towards his room. As Lucy watched him leave, she hoped she was making the right choice.

She'd choose to listen to Happy for now. Hopefully, she wouldn't regret it.


	32. Chapter 32

**Well this one kind of got away from me. Whoops. However, Happy hasn't been around much, so have a little helping of our favorite blue troublemaker.**

**Sashaplaz444: This chapter should answer your question.**

**Sereneserious: Or did I?... Kidding. I did mean kiss and I have fixed it, thanks for letting me know!**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Happy's tail flicked back and forth as he quietly watched Natsu and Lucy in the kitchen. It had been two days since he'd spoken with Lucy, and from what he could tell, Lucy had so far kept her promise and not mentioned anything to Natsu about his lapses in awareness.

Lucy was currently making breakfast for the pair, and Natsu, in a move that had surprised Happy both of the previous mornings, was washing dishes as they chatted with each other. Happy knew just how much Natsu hated doing chores, especially dishes. After the first time he'd done it, he'd immediately convinced Lucy to do them whenever he cooked. Lucy had agreed, saying it was more than fair and since then, he'd only washed things when he needed them to cook with.

That was certainly not the case at that moment. As Happy watched, Natsu filled his palm with bubbles and then turned toward Lucy, whose back was turned, and blew them in her direction. Lucy laughed as she quickly covered the pan she was making eggs in and then waved her spatula at Natsu as she threatened to throw his half of the food in the garbage. In response, Natsu merely blew more bubbles at her, this time in her face. She gasped, and then flung her spatula at him before turning to grab a new one. Natsu barely ducked the projectile, laughing as she turned away and continued to make breakfast. He grabbed the now dirty utensil and wiped up the floor before going to hug Lucy and beg forgiveness. She pretended not to hear him, but Happy could see the smile on her face as she avoided facing the half dragon.

Happy was going crazy, he was certain. It was obvious to him, and even Plue, that the pair liked each other, but until Natsu and his inner dragon synced up, Happy had to be careful what he said to his best friend. Grandeeney had told him as much, and even though he was happy to have some answers, the stress was eating away at him.

_Happy and Carla entered the dragon's domain from a rather dangerous mountain range, filled with all sorts of unsavory beasts and demons. They managed to avoid finding any the last half of their journey, and as they reached the edge of the cliff, they found the reason it had been so empty. Perched on the edge was a large white dragon, covered in several spots with small tufts of feathers. _

"_Welcome Carla," the dragon said without turning around. "I could smell you coming, but I don't smell or sense my daughter with you. Is she alright?"_

"_She's perfectly fine," Carla answered. "Actually, I was accompanying Happy out here. He has some questions."_

"_Happy…" Grandeeney turned her head their way to study the pair. Recognition seemed to flash across her face as she fully turned her head. "Ahh, Happy, I remember you now. It has been some time since you last visited with Natsu."_

_Unsure how to address the dragon who had tentatively taken over as ruler of the dragons, Happy bowed as he answered. "It has. I'm sorry that Natsu and I haven't been around much lately. He doesn't like visiting here so much anymore since…"_

_Grandeeney smiled. "It is understandable. Truthfully, there are days when I find myself not wanting to be here either." She glanced back over the cliff once more before turning their way and lowering her head. "What is it I can do for you, Happy? I imagine you didn't travel here just to make small talk."_

"_No ma'am," Happy said with a shake of his head. "I was wondering if you could tell me about how dragon mates work."_

_Noticeably more interested, Grandeeney moved closer. "What has happened to Natsu? Did he bond with a demon? Tell me it's not a demon."_

"_He hasn't bonded with anyone. At least, I don't think he has? She's not a demon, at any rate, but I'm not sure what's going on."_

"_Tell me what has you concerned."_

_Happy told her about Natsu's changes in attitude, about how he'd been spending more than with Lucy than with him, and about how he'd blatantly ignored warnings from _Erza _just to make sure Lucy didn't have nightmares._

"_He's terrified of Erza! He's never ignored a direct order before and I don't think it's normal. He's becoming more possessive of Lucy every day and I don't know what's happening. I don't know if I should do something to stop it or encourage it, or what. I was hoping you could give me some advice, maybe help me understand."_

_Grandeeney listened silently to Happy's rant, finally speaking once he had run out of words. "Have you noticed any instances where Natsu seems to forget himself? Or any times where his eyes changed color? Since his father was Igneel, I imagine they would change to gold or yellow."_

"_I don't think so. At least, I've never seen his eyes change. Why, does that happen with dragons when they find their mate?"_

"_Dragons are very connected with their inner self, so we are always aware when it happens to us, but dragon hybrids are very different. Demons have no such thing as a mate. In fact, no pure blood demon has ever mated another demon in the entire history of their existence, so for demon hybrids, all mating instincts tend to be subconscious. _

"_If this Lucy really is Natsu's mate, then more than likely his inner dragon will recognize her for what she is well before he does. Especially because it is Natsu. He will more than likely just think that he cares for her like a friend and never dig deeper than that. Unfortunately, you can't just tell him what is going on."_

"_Why not?" Carla asked. "Wouldn't that be the easiest way to fix the problem?"_

"_If Natsu does not figure it out on his own, it will stress the bond he has with his inner dragon and its magic. It is strange, but by not allowing his conscious mind and his inner dragon to come together on their own with the realization that Lucy is his mate, you could cause irreparable damage to his dragon powers."_

"_How is that possible?" Happy said._

"_Well, it has been a very long time, and none of the dragons that are alive anymore remember the specific hybrid, but we've all heard the tale. There was once an ice dragon hybrid who fell in love with another dragon whom he did not like. As the story goes, there were instances where he was near the other dragon and during an argument, he would suddenly seem to lose all awareness of what was happening around him and focus solely on this other dragon. His eyes changed color and he seemed completely lost until she snapped him out of it._

"_In time, she confronted him about it, but he had no idea what she was talking about. He became uncomfortable because his inner dragon began to fight him, so he left and took time to think about what she'd said. Once he did, he rejected her and the idea of mating her, and his inner dragon retaliated. Where once ice had been his greatest love, he began to hate it. He began to feel the cold, and when he used his powers, he would get frostbite on his hands. Eventually, his magic stopped working and he lived out his life very angry and very alone._

"_There are some who think that the problem stemmed from his refusal to bond with his mate, but the story implies that the problem started as soon as his mate told him what was happening._

"_If I were you, I would err on the side of caution and allow Natsu to come to the conclusion on his own. If he really has found his mate, he will no doubt need help figuring it out, but you must find a way of doing it without telling him outright."_

_Happy sighed. "Natsu doesn't do subtle very well."_

_Grandeeney laughed. "I remember. However, there is someone else you should consider."_

"_Who's that?" Happy asked._

"_This Lucy person. I can't say that I'm happy he's bonded with a human, but with the proper care, she could live for at least another eighty years or so, if I remember correctly. It will kill Natsu in the end, but I know he would rather have those years with her, than miss out on his time with her completely."_

"_Are you sure?" Carla asked, her paw moving to rest on Happy's shoulder as his ears began to droop._

"_I can assure you from experience," the dragon said softly, "when he is older and remembering his life, he will appreciate the time that they had together. I promise._

"_Now, if I were you, I would find a way to use Lucy to help Natsu figure out what she really is to him. I do not know how she feels about him, so you may not want to tell her right away and put that pressure on her, but you could help push them in the right direction."_

_Happy groaned. "This is going to be so hard…"_

_Carla pressed her forehead against his head. "I'm sure you can figure something out, Happy. This is Natsu, after all, and you'd do anything for him."_

_Happy nodded before turning to rub his nose against her cheek. "You're right. I'll find a way. And then he's really going to owe me."_

_Both Grandeeney and Carla laughed and the Exceeds stayed for a little while longer before they started their long journey home, Happy spending the whole trip just hoping that Lucy wouldn't summon him back before he got Carla home._

Happy sighed as the door shut behind Natsu. He'd apparently decided it was his new duty to walk Lucy to work, so Happy found himself alone with only Plue for company. The cat jumped up on the couch and rubbed against him.

"What am I going to do Plue?"

_Meow?_ Plue sat next to Happy, his tail lazily moving behind him.

"I have to somehow get Lucy to either like Natsu or realize she likes Natsu, and I have to find a way to get Natsu and his inner dragon on the same page about Lucy being his mate."

_Mate?_

"Natsu is half dragon. Dragons have one perfect mate that they bond with for life and Lucy is his. I have to find a way to help him realize it without telling him that she is."

_Lucy love Natsu. Lucy tell Natsu. Natsu learn Lucy mate?_

Happy tapped his claws against his knee. "That could work, I suppose, but I don't know if Lucy has any of those kinds of feelings about him. It'll be more difficult without something to build on, you know?"

_Lucy like Natsu. Lucy tell Plue. Lucy dream about Natsu. Kissing. Lucy like Natsu. Doesn't want to. Natsu demon. No future._

"Well, that's not entirely true," Happy said. "It would be difficult, but they could manage."

_Lucy not know_.

"Hmm." Happy stared off into space for a while as he considered. "So I just have to get her to understand somehow that a relationship with Natsu is possible and then get her to fall in love with him. Then Natsu will fall in love with her and everything should figure itself out. Easy, right?"

_Easy._

Happy groaned again. "What do you know? You don't have to do it."

_Plue help_.

"How?" Plue spoke for a while, and when he was finally silent again, Happy was surprised. "That could work. And Lucy would never suspect you."

_Meow._ Plue moved over and curled up in the middle of the couch to take a nap. Happy felt himself getting tired as well, since he hadn't slept well over the weekend, so he moved over and curled up next to Plue to sleep as well.

When Natsu returned and saw the pair cuddled up on the couch, he only chuckled to himself and headed for his room, content to let them sleep.

* * *

"So, how was it?" Levy asked.

"How was what?" Lucy asked.

"Your date, duh." Cana put her foot up on the arm of Lucy's chair. "Don't play dumb, our Friday night was lame without you and Levy there, so you both better spill, and I'm talking about the really good stuff. I don't care what you ate, I'd rather hear about what base you got to."

Levy's face began to turn very red as she spoke up. "Well I asked Lucy first, so I think she should talk about her date first."

"It sucked, and there won't be another one," Lucy said before gesturing at Levy. "Your turn."

"Wait," Juvia said, "what was so bad about it? I thought you liked him?"

"I did, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't into me that way."

"I said details," Cana reminded her. "Tell us what happened."

Lucy told them about her date, including what she ate just to spite Cana. "And then he left with a very 'let's be friends' vibe."

"Well that's stupid. What guy turns away just before he gets the goods?"

"Thanks Cana," Lucy said, feeling worse after talking about it.

"Hey, Lucy, that's a diss on the guy, not on you." Cana sat forward and stuck her finger in Lucy's face. "You are amazing and if he didn't kiss you, there's something wrong with him. I'm as straight as they come, but if you offered to make out with me, I'd seriously consider it."

Knowing Cana like she did, Lucy didn't do anything more than smile and thank her before taking another bite of her food.

"Well, I want to talk about mine even less now," Levy said.

"Oh Lev, you should tell us, I don't mind," Lucy said. "Unless it was terrible, too?"

"No, actually, mine was really good. We're going out again this weekend."

"Oh Levy, that's great!"

"I'm really happy for you."

"Does that mean you guys did it?"

Juvia, Levy and Lucy all frowned at Cana who waved them away. "Don't even give me that. Two of you were wondering the same thing, and the only reason the third wasn't is because she already knows. So spill, lady."

Lucy only shook her head as she pulled her phone towards her and checked her emails. Natsu had been messaging her more often that day than normal, so she'd been trying to check every half hour so he wouldn't have to wait so long. She was not surprised to see a couple new messages so she tuned out the conversation going on around her as she opened the message.

(12:04)

_Luce._

_definitely going to be Australia. I wanna see one of these kangaroo things. And a koala. if we find one, could we bring it home? I'll do all the work taking care of it if you say yes._

(12:11)

_Luce, _

_do you remember if we ever paid for the skis I lost? I don't want to get you in trouble with them, even though they don't have your name, but I need to get that cleaned up if I didn't talk to someone there._

(12:20)

_Luce,_

_screw that Stier guy. You want a nice guy to ask you out? Well here goes._

_lucy, would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow night? there's a nice little cafe thing across town that I think you would like, and I'd really like to spend some time alone with you. what do you say?_

"Lu?"

"Lucy? What's up?"

Lucy finally zoned back in once Cana snapped her fingers in front of her face. She looked up, her mouth still half way opened as she looked at her friends.

"What'd I miss?"

"What are you reading?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah, you were making a very interesting face," Levy said.

Cana leaned over, trying to see Lucy's phone, but Lucy pulled it against her chest. "I'm just reading an email."

"That says something awfully shocking," Juvia said.

"What's going on? Did you find out your foreign boyfriend kept the money you sent him?" Cana asked.

"No, it's nothing like that, it's…" Lucy glanced at the email before looking up again. "Natsu just…"

"Is it a dick pic?"

"Levy!" Lucy squeaked.

"Nice one!" Cana said, raising her hand for a high five. Levy grinned as she smacked the offered hand.

"It's nothing like that, guys."

"Well it must be something pretty good. You didn't hear us for a solid ten seconds," Juvia said. "What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything, he… well, he asked me out on a date."

Silence.. and then…

"WHAT?!"

Levy was practically crawling over the table to get to her phone. "Let me see, let me see!"

"I knew he wasn't an idiot!" Cana said. "Where is he taking you?"

"You're going to say yes, right?" Juvia asked. "Forget that Stier guy, Natsu is _way_ better."

"Hey!" Cana glared at the woman. "Don't try to pull that, I said that last week. You can only say that if you're getting on the NaLu ship with me."

"NaLu ship?" Lucy whispered.

"I'm getting on!" Levy said, raising her hand.

"Me too," Juvia said.

"Awesome. Now, as your captain, I say we help Lucy out with this."

"Help how?" Lucy asked.

"Well first, we need to know how you're going to respond," Levy said.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't know if it's such a good idea. I mean we're-"

"Ladies!" Cana stood, followed shortly by both Juvia and Levy.

"What are you guys doing? Guys? Guys!"

* * *

_Ping!_ Natsu paused, his fork halfway to his mouth, and leaned towards Lucy's laptop to open the new message from her. Happy, enjoying his own meal, hopped up onto the table to see as well.

_Natsu,_

_That sounds great! I'm not sure which cafe you mean, but I'm sure I'll have a good time with you whichever one you choose *winky face*. Just let me know what time and I'm there!_

"What do you think she means by winky face?" Natsu asked.

"No idea," answered Happy, who turned back towards his seat with a small smile on his face.

"So, are you sure this is going to make Lucy happy?" Natsu asked, returning to his food.

"Of course. You said she was bummed no nice guys ask her out and you're a nice guy, right? So just take her out, treat her nice like you always do, and I'm sure it will go just fine."

"If you say so. Lucy said it wasn't the same thing, but I still don't get it, so as long as it makes her happy, I'll do whatever I have to do." He sent back a quick message and then closed the laptop to finish his food with Happy.

* * *

Levy jumped up squealing. "He responded!" She held out Lucy's phone towards Juvia and Cana, who were holding Lucy down.

_Luce,_

_Let's say around five? I don't want to keep you out too late since you work the next day. Maybe we can even hang out on the couch after and watch a movie, if you want._

_Have fun at work, I'll see you later!_

"He wants to Netflix and chill! HE WANTS TO NETFlIX AND CHILL! Lucy, do you know what that means?!" Cana yelled.

"Please Cana, I highly doubt that's what-"

"He did say he wanted to hang out on the couch," Juvia pointed out. "Together. I'm not so sure Cana is wrong."

"I'm pretty sure Natsu doesn't know what Netflix and chill means," Lucy said.

"Doesn't matter," Levy said. "He didn't use the words, but it was heavily implied. I think you owe us a thank you."

"WHAT?! What for?!"

Before anyone could respond, Mira entered the cafeteria. She glanced over and saw Lucy on the floor, with both Juvia and Cana sitting on her while Levy stood over them. She smiled as she headed for one of the fridges and pulled out a lunchbox before walking back towards the door. "Remember not to take too long a lunch, ladies," she reminded them. "And don't rough Lucy up too much. She has a meeting later and I'd like her presentable."

"You got it Mira," Cana answered.

"Wait, Mira! Help me!" Lucy called.

"I'm sorry, Lucy, I'm not sure if I can. See you all upstairs soon!"

Once the door was closed, Levy turned back. "We're not letting you up until you say thank you."

"Thank you for what?! You guys attacked me and stole my phone, why should I thank you for that?!"

"We got you a date," Cana answered.

"I could have done that on my own."

"Maybe," Juvia mused, "but you were on the fence. We secured the date for you, so you really should thank us."

"I will thank you to get off me! Come on guys, I really do have work to do!"

"Thank us first."

"Thank us."

"Say thank you."

It was nearly ten minutes later that Lucy finally caved and thanked her friends.

And it was eleven minutes later that she was tossing the last of their food in the garbage and running for the elevators.


	33. Chapter 33

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.**

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Natsu asked. He began to read through the list Happy had given him.

"Yes," the Exceed said. "I did my research. This is all the stuff you should do to impress Lucy on your date!"

"I don't know, bud. I'm not trying to impress her, I'm just trying to make her happy."

"But this _will_ make her happy!" Happy stood up and put his paw on Natsu's shoulder. "Natsu, if you follow that list, you are going to give her the best date she's ever had! A night so good, she'll remember it on every other date for the rest of her life. And every time she remembers it, she'll be happy all over again. I promise," he said, "this is going to work."

"If you say so. I guess you would have more idea than me." Natsu paused and turned towards Happy. "Things are still going well with Carla, right?"

"Yep! Being separated is a little difficult, but that's okay. She's been hanging out with Wendy more, so she's not lonely or anything. Now read the list!" Happy encouraged. "You have to memorize it before Lucy gets here."

"Why?"

"Well you can't just carry it around with you on your date, duh! So get reading! I'm going to grab a snack."

"Alright." Natsu sat back and began to read the list. Happy returned to the living room just in time for Natsu to glare at him over the paper. "Number nine feels pretty personal."

"I just thought you could use the reminder," Happy said innocently.

Natsu grunted and then returned to the list. "Are you sure this is what I need to do? It all feels… kind of fake."

"Well most of it is stuff you do already, right? So you're not being fake, you're just improving your manners a bit."

"But-"

"Will you just trust me?" Happy said.

"Alright," Natsu grumbled, "but if this doesn't work, I'm telling Lucy it was your idea."

"Fine." Just then the front door flew open, and as Happy began to fly towards the kitchen to say hi to Lucy, Natsu grabbed him and stuffed him behind himself against the couch.

"Nat-"

"Shh!"

* * *

"Alright guys, remember what we agreed?" Lucy asked. "Tell me what we talked about. I need to know that you guys were listening."

"We need to tell Natsu you'll let him get to third base on the first date, but no further," Cana said.

"We get to help you choose the most flattering lingerie you have," Levy said.

"We're supposed to remain _at least_ two tables away at the restaurant and wear believable disguises," Juvia added.

Lucy sighed. "Guys, come on, I'm serious about this. I don't want you messing things up for me."

"Why are you so nervous, Lu? Do you _loooove_ him?" Levy asked.

"Please stop." The blonde hid her face in her hands. "You're going to embarrass me as soon as we get to my place, aren't you?"

"Us?" Cana gasped. "How could you ever think we'd do something like that to you? I'm offended."

"Sure you are."

"Don't worry so much, Lu. You know you can trust us," Levy said.

"Most of the time that is true, but this is one of those times where I actually can't."

"Juvia promises to be on her best behavior," Juvia said. "Scout's honor."

"When were you a girl scout?" Cana asked, glancing back in the mirror.

"I wasn't," Juvia said. She blinked, looking surprised. "Do you have to have been a scout to say that?"

"You do for it to mean something," Lucy said. "Just one more reason not to trust you lot."

"Oh lighten up, Lucy, we're just teasing you." Cana parked in front of Lucy's home and they all got out of the car. As they walked up, Cana casually put her arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Now just trust us, okay? We'll have you looking so great for your date, Natsu will be drooling all over himself. But first…" Juvia and Levy both bolted for the door as Cana spun Lucy around and then followed behind them.

"Hey! Guys!" Lucy stumbled but managed to stay on her feet as she ran after them. As usual, the door was unlocked so the trio barged into her apartment well before Lucy could stop them. "Shit."

When Lucy finally entered her kitchen, she found Natsu sitting on the couch in the living room with her three friends in a semi circle around him.

"-making sure you know we expect you to take good care of our girl," Juvia said.

"That's right. You might be our friend now, but she was our friend first, and if you hurt her, we'll make you regret it," Cana added.

"And this is a date, so you'd better show her a good time." Levy leaned down. "What Cana said is really important so I'm going to say it again. If you upset Lucy in any way, we'll have to teach you a lesson and I'd rather not do that, you know? I like you, but not nearly as much as Lucy."

"Yeah, I get it guys, you don't have to be so hostile. It's not what you think." Natsu looked passed them and finally saw Lucy. As they made eye contact, Natsu rubbed his nose with his thumb, their signal that Happy was somewhere he could be discovered.

Lucy looked around for a moment before realizing that Natsu looked uncomfortable and stiff. Realizing where the Exceed must be, she strode forward and pulled on her friends, corralling them towards the kitchen. "Alright, that's it. Into the kitchen, guys."

"Lucy-"

"Don't Lucy me," she said, cutting Cana off. "We agreed I would talk to Natsu first when we got here. Now into the kitchen or I'm calling this whole thing off, got it?" From the corner of her eye, she saw a streak of blue by the hallway, so as she got to the kitchen's doorway, she stopped ushering her friends and returned to Natsu, who looked relieved.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem," he said. "It's part of the contract, remember?" Natsu nodded his head towards the group in the kitchen. "So what's going on with them? Why are they warning me to be nice to you all of a sudden?"

"It's because of the date."

"Oh… Is that normal?"

Lucy shook her head. "They don't understand that this isn't a real date."

Natsu cocked his head. "It's not? Did I not ask you out right?"

"No, you did fine. It's because we're doing this as a friend thing and they refuse to accept that."

"Oh. Well, I mean, if you wanted this to be that kind of date, I could give that a try. What would I have to do different?"

"Natsu, don't, it's not- ugh, they're making this difficult." She sighed as she rubbed her hands over her face. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," he said. "Do… you want me to do something about them?"

"No, that's okay." Lucy dropped her hands to her sides and then move to sit next to him on the couch. "They're not being too bad yet. I may take you up on your offer later though."

"Just let me know and I can fix it in a flash," he said with a grin. "I have to ask though, why are they all here?"

"They wanted to help make me up for tonight, and somehow I couldn't shake them so here they are." The trio, who were doing a terrible job pretending not to listen, all waved in their direction.

"Does that mean you'd like me to go then? I imagine they wouldn't want me here while they're doing that."

She gave him a small smile. "Do you mind? If it's a problem, I really could make them leave, but it's usually easier to just let them go."

Remembering his list, he gave her an easy grin. "It's no trouble. I'll be back a little before five, how does that sound? That way we can get to the cafe in time for our date."

"That sounds good. Do you need anything before you leave?"

"Nah, I'll be good." He stood up and then offered her a hand to help her to her feet. He didn't let her hand go until they made it into the kitchen and headed towards the front door. "Don't have too much fun, ladies."

"We could say the same," Levy said, making the other two laugh. "Don't worry, she's in good hands. We'll return her in even better shape than she is now."

"I'll hold you to that," he said, then waved with a last goodbye to Lucy.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Cana, Levy and Juvia all rounded on Lucy. She sighed, but didn't fight as they all stood and ushered her down the hall towards her room.

"So," Cana said, "that seemed pretty intimate."

"What did?" Lucy asked.

"That conversation. You were pretty close together. How often do you two cuddle on the couch like that?"

"We don't! We were just trying to have a conversation without the peanut gallery chiming in." As they entered her room, she moved to sit on her bed while the others moved towards her closet.

"Okay, but what about that hand holding?" Juvia asked. "He held on much longer than he needed to just to help you stand."

"He just likes to hold hands sometimes when we're walking. I do that with you guys sometimes, too, so I don't think it's weird."

"He was smiling an awful lot," Levy said.

"So do you guys! Does that mean that you guys like me, too?!"

"Probably."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

Lucy sighed, loudly, and then fell back against the bed. "You guys are killing me. Can we please stop teasing me so much today?"

Immediately, all three were sitting around her on the bed. Levy spoke up first. "What's wrong, Lu? We didn't mean to upset you, we were just having fun."

"I know, but I'm stressing out a little bit and it's not helping."

"Why are you stressed, Lucy?" Juvia asked.

Lucy opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to figure out what to say. Finally, she just sighed and said, "I don't know how to explain it."

"I'm guessing part of you is wishing that this wasn't just a friend date, right?" Lucy's eyes snapped Cana's way, but the brunette just shrugged her shoulders. "Best friend, dude. I know what's up."

"Lu, are you sure there's absolutely no way that he likes you?" Levy ran her fingers through Lucy's hair. "You know, he might just be saying it's a friend date because he's not sure if you like him and he just wanted to make sure you didn't say no."

Lucy covered her face with her hands. "I'm pretty sure that's not the case. I'm not his type."

"What's his type?" Juvia asked.

"Not me," Lucy responded.

"Not gorgeous, intelligent women with an amazing sense of humor and a great group of friends?" Cana said.

Lucy half glared at her friend. "You guys have nothing to do with my dating life."

"We are your closest confidants," Levy said. "We are at least a little involved with your dating life."

"Guys, can we just drop it please? He's just taking me out to make up for Stier being a dick, that's all."

They were all silent for a while, much to Lucy's relief. After a suspiciously long time, she realized she could feel small vibrations from around her and opened her eyes to see her friends all mouthing words and gesturing at each other. "Guys, please, can we just get on to the dressing part? I'm fine, really. I don't need to talk about who has feelings for who and who doesn't have those same feelings back."

"Lucy-"

"No," Lucy said, cutting Cana off. "Please? Natsu and I are friends. Just friends. There is nothing else there and there can't ever be anything else there, so please just move on to finding something amazing for me to wear tonight. That I can wear to a cafe," she quickly added. "So no touching the gowns in the back of the closet."

Cana and Levy groaned by reluctantly agreed as they got up and went back to the closet. Juvia sighed as she reached up and started to undo Lucy's hair.

"Lucy?"

"What's up, Juvia?"

"For what it's worth, I honestly think he likes you, too."

"Juvia-"

"I won't harp on you about it, I just wanted to say one thing. I'm not the only one. I think Loke knows it, too." Lucy cocked her head in surprise as Juvia continued. "I don't think you've seen it, but I've caught Loke watching you and Natsu more than once looking awfully jealous, and you and I both know he used to have a thing for you.

"I think he's jealous of the easy relationship you two have, and nervous that you two are going to end up dating. I've talked to him a few times, and he denies everything, but then he goes right back to watching you two."

"Loke is just a friend, just like Natsu. I'm not going to end up either of them, Juvia. They're both great, but it's not going to happen. It's not in the cards."

"Cana's cards?" Juvia asked. "Because I'm pretty sure if I asked-"

"One more word and you die," Lucy hissed as she shoved her hand over Juvia's mouth.

The other woman smiled and nodded before returning to Lucy's hair. Before either could say another word, Levy and Cana came out of Lucy's closet each with an armload of clothes. Lucy sighed and allowed Juvia to quickly twist her hair out of the way before standing up and allowing the girls their fun while she pondered Juvia's words.

* * *

Natsu let out a deep breath as he took the short stroll up to Lucy's door.

_Step One: Wear something nice._

He was in a dark pair of jeans with black shoes and a dark red button down shirt, sleeves rolled up, with his scarf firmly wrapped around his neck. He'd even tried to comb out his hair a little, but that had been a lost cause. Before he knocked, he took another deep breath, nervous despite himself, and adjusted his grip on the flowers in his hand.

_Step Two: Bring her flowers when you pick her up._

As Natsu raised his hand to knock, he hoped, again, that he wasn't making a fool of himself. He'd seen Stier pick her up, and he had not done any of the steps on Happy's list. Since the date had gone horribly, that didn't necessarily mean he was wrong, but it made him feel unsure of himself.

He was surprised when Lucy didn't come to the door, so he knocked again. When he was still waiting a minute later, he tried the door and found it locked. He held his hand over the doorknob and used his magic to unlock it. As he entered the space, Plue hurried across the room, yowling loudly. Natsu immediately readied himself for an attack as he set the flowers down on the table and began to smell the area for any unrecognizable scents.

He silently made his way through the living room, trying to sense Lucy's presence or feel her through their bond, but there was nothing. His room was shut, but Lucy's was open a crack. He made his way to her door and entered like a wraith, silently and hugging the shadows. Inside, he could smell Lucy's scent stronger than any other room of the house, but he could also smell her friends. It had been at least an hour since they'd been in here, but there was too much of Lucy's scent to know if she'd left with her friends or not.

Retreating, he went to his room, but before he could open the door, there was a loud knock on the front door. He'd only made it a few steps before there were more knocks, this time more urgent.

Natsu opened the front door to find Loke, red faced and angry looking. "Lucy isn't here," Natsu said, "but I'll let her know you stopped by."

"I'm not here for Lucy, I'm here for you," Loke said. "Let me come in."

"What do you want, Loke?"

Loke leaned forward and spoke softly. "Here is not the place, Natsu."

"I'll be the judge of that. What do you want?"

Loke sighed angrily. "Please Natsu, I will tell you once I-"

"Tell me or you don't come in," Natsu said, cutting him off.

"Lucy's been taken," Loke growled.

Natsu stared at Loke, unsure he'd heard the words correctly. "What did you say?" he whispered.

"Lucy has been taken. Now let me inside so we can figure out-"

Natsu's eyes flashed gold just before he threw his head back and let out a loud, guttural roar.

**I was supposed to just get Lucy dressed and send Natsu to pick her up before writing about their date next chapter, and then this idea popped into my head and I thought, you know what, I haven't messed with them enough yet. I feel a little evil.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Anyone else kind of love stories with prophecies? My husband hates them, but they're one of my guilty pleasures.**

**Moon'n'Tide: Those answers will come later.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Loke took a step back as Natsu's roar assaulted his ears. "Natsu, what the hell, calm down!"

Natsu's golden eyes snapped open and he stared at Loke with an intensity that almost worried the angel. He barely sensed an attack coming as Natsu charged forward and swiped at his chest. Loke avoided being grabbed, but Natsu's claws ripped through his shirt and jacket like they were nothing.

"Seriously man, stop changing! It's the middle of the afternoon people are going to see you!" Loke was at a complete loss. He could understand Natsu being upset, but his reaction was so much more than he had anticipated. Loke was on fire himself, ready to charge into any fight to retrieve his charge, but his anger was nothing compared to what he sensed coming off the half dragon in front of him.

"Damn it, Natsu," he mumbled, jumping back from the hybrid. He clapped his hands together and cast out a barrier. A web of pale strings expanded until the whole yard was surrounded, keeping human eyes from seeing what was happening inside. The barrier wouldn't hold long, but Loke hoped it would it block them from human eyes long enough for him to snap Natsu out of whatever was happening.

Natsu jumped forward and swung at Loke again. The angel could see patches of scales beginning to appear and his horns were beginning to poke out from his hair. Loke continued to dodge Natsu, his speed surprising the angel, but not moving so fast that Loke couldn't avoid his attacks. "Natsu, what the hell man. Why are you freaking out so much? And on me! I didn't take her!"

Natsu roared again and then jumped in his direction. Loke barely managed to dodge as Natsu kicked at his chest. As he leaned back to avoid the blow, Loke stumbled and nearly fell, giving Natsu the chance to finally hit him. The angel hissed as his wings unfurled and he took to the air, blood dripping from the wounds across his chest. "Damn it, was I right all along? You really are no more than a lowly demon, aren't you?"

Natsu leaned forward and Loke watched as Natsu's shirt disappeared and his wings began to emerge from his back. After a moment, Natsu attempted to fly up to him, but his wings were barely poking out of his back. The hybrid continued to scream at the angel and jump towards him, but he couldn't get into the air.

As he watched, it dawned on Loke that Natsu's transformation had stalled. A demon's magic in the human realm hinged upon their contract. Loke had sensed when his bond with Lucy had faded, and if Natsu was suffering similarly, then he wouldn't have enough magic to transform, or perform any of his spells. Not only that, if he lost too much magic, he ran the risk of dying.

"Shit." Loke sighed as he lifted a now glowing fist. "I'm sorry Natsu, but I have no choice. I need your help if we're going to get Lucy back." The angel waited, and just as Natsu fell back towards the ground after another failed jump, he flew down at the hybrid and punched him in the face. Natsu groaned as he bounced off the ground and his eyes shut as his body went still. Sensing that his barrier was nearing its end, Loke quickly grabbed Natsu and drug him inside. After stretching him out on the kitchen floor, Loke left Plue to check over the hybrid as he did a scan of the space.

He could tell that Levy, Cana and Juvia had also been over, and judging from their scents, they had left right around the time his bond had faded. Ignoring the possible implications, he continued to search the apartment. Pausing outside Natsu's room, he contemplated not entering, but decided he needed to see everything. As he opened the door, something sailed passed his head into the hallway. The angel quickly raised his hands, but paused when he saw the small blue cat on the bed.

"You don't belong here," the Exceed said, his fur standing on end.

"Of the two of us, demon, I'm the only one who should be here."

Happy blinked at him. "How do you know I'm a demon?"

"I assume you came here with Natsu, so that would mean you are most likely a demon. And while I have never seen an Exceed in person before, I know how they are supposed to look. Plus, you're blue and can talk, so you're definitely no human world cat."

The Exceed's fur smoothed out a bit as he eyed the other being. "You're the angel, aren't you?"

"Yes," Loke answered, "I am. Who are you?"

"I'm Happy."

"Since you're here, and I'm assuming you're close to Natsu, do you mind telling me what the hell's going on with him?"

"What do you mean?" Happy tried to stand, but he only managed to pull himself forward a little.

Loke moved forward to kneel next to the bed. "Why are you so weak? You don't look injured."

"Someone came for Lucy," Happy said, his lip quivering. "I didn't smell them or hear them or anything. When I finally sensed whoever it was, they vanished, along with Lucy and the girls. Ever since I've felt really weak, but I don't know why."

"Shit," Loke whispered. His worst fear had been that they'd caught all four of the girls, and it seemed he'd been right. Loke decided to focus on the Exceed and worry about one problem at a time. "How are you here? Are you connected to Natsu's contract with Lucy somehow?"

Happy nodded. "I was part of Natsu's conditions."

"So that means you're relying on Natsu's magic to stay, correct?" Happy nodded. "Okay, I need to ask you a couple questions, and then I need you to send yourself home. Is it possible for you to do that?"

"I've never tried. Usually I have to run low on magic in order to get sent back if I'm summoned. For Natsu's contract, Lucy usually sends me back when I wanna go."

"Okay, well, after you answer my questions I'll try to send you back, okay? You being here is a drain on Natsu's magic that he can't handle right now, and even though I don't like the demon, I need him."

"Dragon," Happy said quietly, his eyes closed.

"What?"

"If you're going to refer to him as one of his races, refer to him as a dragon. He's always been more dragon than demon."

"I'm not so sure after what I saw out front."

Happy's eyes flew open. "What happened? Did you tell Natsu someone took Lucy?"

"I did and then he flipped out."

Happy groaned. "That's not good. Natsu hasn't figured it out yet."

"Figured out what?"

Happy looked away. "I can't tell you. And you can't tell Natsu about what happened."

Loke raised an eyebrow. "I can't tell Natsu that he flipped out and attacked me?"

"Exactly." Happy forced himself to sit up and stared at Loke as seriously as he could. "Natsu has to learn about his lapses and what they mean on his own. If you or someone else tells him, it could mess him up, possibly even his magic, so you have to promise me you won't tell him."

"You know I have no obligation to listen to you, right?" Loke asked.

"I know, but you have questions, and you need Natsu. I can refuse to give you the answers you need and convince Natsu not to help you if you refuse."

"You know if Natsu doesn't help me, Lucy is the one who will suffer."

Happy barely hesitated. "My loyalty is to Natsu first. He's the one I have to protect, not the human."

Loke could tell Happy didn't fully mean what he said, but he wasn't going to challenge the demon. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose if he didn't agree to lie to the still unconscious hybrid. "I'll lie to him if you really wish."

Happy nodded as he sank back down into the bed. "You have to. And you'll have to keep an extra close eye on him when you go save Lucy, too."

"Why is that?"

"I already told you I can't tell you."

"Is it because Lucy is special to him?"

Happy's ears twitched. "She's his friend, of course she's special. All of Natsu's friends are special to him."

Loke recognized a non-answer when he saw one. He studied the Exceed as he tried to recall anything he'd learned about dragons or demons eye color changing or going berserk over losing someone. Was it because of the contract? He'd never heard of a demon getting so worked up over losing their master before, but Natsu was half dragon. Perhaps it was the dragon part. Come to think of it, his eyes had reminded Loke an awful lot of Igneel. Had Igneel ever said anything about his kind that was relevant? He knew Natsu was a hybrid, but perhaps-

Loke's eyes widened as he finally realized he knew what was going on.

"The ice dragon half breed," he whispered, causing Happy's eyes to flash open in a panic. "He's bonded with Lucy."

"You can't tell him! You can't! If you know the story, you know what's happening and you know you can't tell him!"

Loke sat down, hard and began to chuckle. "To think it would be Lucy and Natsu." He rubbed his face with both hands, sighing as he finished. "This is just freaking great. What am I going to tell the king?"

"You don't have to tell your king anything, this has nothing to do with him," Happy said angrily. "Now promise me you won't tell Natsu!"

"Does Lucy know?" Loke asked curiously.

"She knows something is going on, but she doesn't know he's bonded, and she's already promised not to tell Natsu about his lapses. You have to promise, too."

"I'll do my best," Loke said.

"That's not good enough!" Happy said angrily. "You have to promise, right now!"

Loke studied the Exceed for a long moment before he finally nodded at him. "Fine, I promise."

"Good. Thank you."

"Alright, so Natsu has bonded with her, but the dummy hasn't realized it, and when I take him to help me get her back, he's probably going to react like a psycho. That's going to be fun."

"I don't know what he did to you, but from what I've seen with Lucy, you just have to break his focus on her somehow to bring him back to his senses."

"Got it. Guess I have a good reason to punch him now."

Happy sighed. "Please Loke. I don't know you, but Lucy likes you, so I'm hoping I can trust you. Natsu is my best friend and I hate that I'm going to have to leave him when he needs me most. Please help him. Please. I don't want anything bad to happen to him." Tears welled up in Happy's eyes. "Please help him."

Loke leaned forward to pat the Exceed on the head. "Don't worry, I'll do whatever I can to help Natsu get through this."

"Thank you," Happy whispered. "I'm getting more tired. I think I'd like to go home now. What other questions do you have?"

"It was really just about what's going on with Natsu."

"He doesn't usually get upset when he zones out like that. He usually just gets really focused on Lucy. His eyes change to gold every time, that's the easiest way to figure out that it's happening."

"Got it." Loke looked around the room. "Is there anything in here I can use to draw your mark?"

"I don't think so," Happy whispered, "but Lucy keeps a copy and some tracing paper in her desk."

"Go back and forth a lot?" Loke asked.

"A bit. I've been trying to give them some alone time recently. And Natsu has me doing some research for him, too, so it's just convenient this way."

Loke held out his hands. "Do you mind if I carry you to Lucy's desk so you can direct me?"

"I don't mind."

The angel leaned forward to carefully lift the Exceed, then stood and made his way to the living room. Natsu was still passed out on the kitchen floor, so Loke tried to stay quiet as he followed Happy's directions to the correct drawer and pulled out the papers he found there.

"All you have to do is lay the tracing paper over the symbol and trace it," Happy said, curling up in Loke's lap.

"Alright, let's give this a shot." Loke set up the papers and began to trace over the symbol. "Is there anything you want me to do before I send you back?"

Happy sighed. "No. Just make sure you keep Natsu safe. He can be hot headed sometimes, but he's a really good guy. And try not to give him so much heat about his demon blood. He doesn't like it anymore than you do."

"Got it," Loke said, as he finished the inner flame.

"Loke, is Lucy in a different world?"

"Yes, she is, so I need to get Natsu and leave as soon as possible."

"Is it the demon realm?"

"No."

"Okay, good."

Loke lifted the pen from the paper. "Why is it good that we're not going to the demon realm?"

"If you were, I was going to ask you to keep an eye on his scarf," Happy murmured.

"What's so important about the scarf?" Loke asked.

"It helps Natsu control his power and keep his demon side in check. It's a very powerful item, and a lot of demons have been trying to take it from him for decades. If he zones out around them, he might not come to soon enough to stop someone from taking it, so I had to make sure you weren't going there. To most others, it would just seem like an ordinary scarf, but demons can sense how powerful the magic in it really is, so Natsu has to be careful around them."

"I will keep that in mind." Loke returned to tracing the Exceeds' symbol. When he had a small line left to finish the outer most circle, Loke paused again. "I'm about finished. You ready?"

Happy nodded. "Just remember to protect Natsu for me."

"You have my word, as leader of the Zodiac, and right hand to the king of all angels, I will keep an eye on him."

"Thank you," Happy sighed. Loke finished connecting the lines, and as he watched, Happy blinked out of existence.

Loke stood and glanced down at his shirt. The wound had closed but he still had both wet and dry blood all over his chest. As he made his way to the kitchen, he used his magic to change his clothes, hiding the still stinging wounds on his chest.

He went to the sink and filled a glass with cold water before moving back towards Natsu. Loke sighed. "Just when I thought you couldn't cause me any more problems, you just _had_ to bond to Lucy of all people, didn't you? I swear to the gods, I've never met a more problematic demon or dragon.

"While it might actually be better for me to go alone given this new information, you just might be the ace in the hole I need to save Lucy, so I'll just have to deal with your extra personality for now."

He held his hand away from him and said, "Time to wake up, dragon," before dumping the water on Natsu's face.


	35. Chapter 35

**I got an itch again to write the other idea I had a while back, but I am doing my best to ignore it. I'm still hoping to get this one done before December, so I can't afford the distraction! (I'll write it eventually, don't worry.)**

**Sashaplaz: He's only exposed his real demon side a few times, so I'm going to have to give him a really good reason to bust it out. We'll see when/ if that happens, but I don't think Natsu's quite ready to expose that side of him yet.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Natsu jerked up coughing as water was poured onto his face. "Hey, what the hell!" He wiped at the water in his eyes, and when he could finally see, he looked up at Loke, who looked equally annoyed for some reason. "What the hell was that for, Loke?!"

"What kind of demon faints at the news that his master is in trouble? It's despicable."

"What do you mean? What happened to Lucy?"

Loke knelt down in front of Natsu as soon as the hybrid's eyes widened in realization. He grabbed onto Natsu's shoulders and shook him slightly. "Natsu, listen to me, focus on my face. Natsu, look at me!" The last thing the angel needed was to have to knock his companion out again. "Focus on me, alright? I need you to focus."

"Lucy is fine, I don't know why you think she's been taken." Natsu shook Loke's hands off. "If something had happened, I would have felt it. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Natsu, my bond with her is much different than yours. You only feel strong emotions from her, but with mine, I feel a constant pull in her direction. Over an hour ago, that connection evaporated. I can't feel anything from her anymore. Not only that, I can't find her. I had all the angels in town looking for her, and they weren't able to find her. She's not here, Natsu. She's not even on this plane. It's why the connection is broken. It's also why your magic is so low."

"My magic is fine," Natsu spat, but as he held out his hand, he was unable to make even a spark. Natsu flexed his hands, but nothing happened. He couldn't even bring forth his demon form - not one single little scale.

"Natsu, I need you to focus, okay? I've already checked, and there is no scent of anyone else here. I also spoke with your friend, the Exceed."

"Where is Happy?"

"I sent him back." Loke held up his hands as Natsu began to argue with him. "You can't afford the drain on your magic right now, okay? I spoke with him before I helped him go back. He said that he didn't hear or smell anything, but he did sense something just before he sensed Lucy and the girls disappearing."

"The girls?" Natsu's eyes widened. "Whoever took Lucy got the other three, too?"

"That's my guess. I asked Aries to check their homes and Taurus is heading for the bar. They haven't reported back, and while no news could be good news, it wouldn't make sense that we wouldn't have heard from them if Lucy had just disappeared from in front of them. It think it's safe to say that all four of them were taken together."

"But who took them? A demon's senses are stronger than any other beings in existence. Who could mask their presence so thoroughly?"

"Someone from the Dark," Loke answered angrily.

Natsu sat up, wide eyed and obviously worried. "That's the most dangerous realm in existence. Even demons don't go there without a damn good reason. How exactly are we supposed to find them in that mess?"

"Once we're on their plane, my link should be restored and I can lead us to them. The problem will come if the girls have been split up. For that, your nose might be the only thing that can lead us to the others."

"My first priority is Lucy," Natsu said. "I'll help with the others if I need to, but we save Lucy first."

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm her guardian angel, remember? I'd be demoted, or possibly fired, if I didn't protect my charge."

"That's an awfully harsh punishment," Natsu said. "Is that what happens to any angel who loses their charge?"

Loke sighed as he stood. "It doesn't matter. The point is, I need to get her back, alright? And you're going to help."

"You're avoiding my questions," Natsu said.

"Can we move on, please?"

"No." Natsu groaned a little as he made his way to his feet, rubbing his jaw. "I think it's time you were straight with me. If you want my help, you need to tell me right now why Lucy is so important to you."

"She's not important to me." Loke exhaled. "What I mean is, she's important to a lot of people, okay? Now-"

"Why?"

"I can't tell you," Loke growled, eyes beginning to glow. "Natsu, we don't have time for this."

"Then answer my question."

"I already told you I can't, Natsu. By order of the king, I can't tell anyone anything about Lucy."

Natsu stepped back until he hit the table and then crossed his arms as he leaned against it. "I've never heard of a human being so important to the king of the angels that he'd put multiple angels in charge of protecting them. Not to mention that they're you're all part of the _Zodiac_."

Loke's eyes continued to glow. "Natsu, we _really_ don't have time for this."

"We could save a whole lot of time if you'd just answer my question."

Loke ground his teeth together. He wondered what would happen if he leaned into the bonded part of Natsu and brought up the things that could be happening to Lucy, but decided against it. He didn't need the half dragon losing control again. Instead, he sighed and asked, "Have you heard of the Blood Bond prophecy?"

"Blood Bond prophecy," Natsu repeated slowly. "Can't say I have."

"Well the Heartfilia line is part of it." The glow slowly faded from Loke's eyes and he adjusted his glasses. "It's completely dependant on the lives of Lucy's family line. That is why every single member since the first has been protected by a guardian angel. Every realm depends on the continuation of her line, even yours. I can't tell you any more than that. If you want to know the truth, you need to do your own digging, but you cannot, _under any circumstance_, tell _anyone_ about the Heartfilia line. Not a single soul, do you understand? The state of our realms is at stake, Natsu. Will you promise not to say anything?"

Natsu studied the angel as he considered his words. "I can promise that. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to find anyone who's heard about this prophecy anyway, but I won't mention Lucy's name when I'm looking."

"So we're good? You have enough answer to come help me?"

"For now." Natsu grimaced and touched his still naked chest. "This nonsense with my magic is starting to bother me. Since we're heading to the Dark, do you mind if we get a little back up to find them?"

"I was going to get help," Loke said, a little defensively. "Do you think I'd honestly go into the dark with just us?"

"I meant, can I bring some back up. I know a pair of guys who will be perfect for this kind of thing."

"Demons?"

"Better."

Loke groaned. "Please don't tell me they're hybrids, too. I have my hands full with you, I don't know if I can handle two more."

"Of course they are. I kinda grew up with them." Natsu went into the living room to pull out the stack of tracing paper and some plain sheets. "Since you can apparently summon demons, it shouldn't be hard to do. I'm not a fan of that, by the way, knowing that angels can summon us."

"It's not a universal skill," Loke said as he watched Natsu draw. "It's something only the king and I can do."

"That only makes me feel a little better. We've always been told only humans can summon us."

"Sorry," Loke said, not sounding at all apologetic.

"Here, start with this one. We'll talk to him first, and then summon the other one."

Loke studied the summoning symbol Natsu handed him. "Is he some kind of light dragon mix?"

"Yep, he's Weisslogia's son." Natsu gestured at the paper. "Come on, get drawing. We gotta get going."

Loke snorted. "Sure, _I'm_ the one keeping us." He quickly copied the drawn image and a moment later there was a bright flash of light.

Once the flash had faded, a new voice said, "Well this is unexpected."

Loke turned in time to see Natsu give the other man a hug. He was easily as tall as Natsu, with blond hair and similar black eyes. He wore a cropped shirt under a fur lined vest with black and white pants held up by suspenders.

Natsu was grinning as he pulled away. "Long time no see, Sting, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. Haven't been up to much lately, so Rogue and I have just been hanging out with the dragons." Sting nodded in Loke's direction. "What's up with him? Find something he needs help with that the great Salamander can't handle on his own?"

"Oh shut up," Natsu said with a swing at the blond who easily dodged. "This is Loke. It's kind of a long story, but we need some help getting my master back from the Dark."

Sting began to laugh. "Oh man, that's amazing! How did you manage to screw up so spectacularly that you lost your master to _the Dark_ of all places?"

"It doesn't matter, will you help us? Your light magic will help keep most of the pests away, and make this whole rescue a million times easier."

Sting grinned, obviously smug. "What can I say to the great Salamander when he begs so nicely except yes? You should get Rogue in on this, too, though. He'll be able to move more freely around the realm and help guide us."

"Already working on it," Natsu said, turning and finishing up his second drawing, which he handed over and Loke quickly got to work copying it.

"So what's with the entrance?" Natsu asked. "Looked like it was all flash with no substance."

"I'm a light dragon half breed, why wouldn't I come in like that?"

"You weren't even in your dragon or demon form."

"So? I could tell a male was summoning me, so I usually go with this. It's less intimidating."

Natsu laughed. "I show up in my dragon form for females all the time, and I've never had a problem."

"Well, the males in this world are apparently more jumpy with this kind of thing," Sting argued, "because they always either faint or fight me and it's a waste of time."

"A lot of what you do is a waste of time," said a new voice.

"Oh shut up," said Sting, "and get out of my shadow."

A figure rose up next to Sting from seemingly nowhere. He had black hair that covered most of his face, revealing one red eye. Most of his clothing was also black, except for his pants. When he was finally standing next to the others, he glanced at the other hybrids before turning towards Loke. He studied the angel intently with his red eye long enough it almost made Loke uncomfortable. "How did you summon me?" he asked.

Sting glanced at Rogue. "What kind of question is that?"

Rogue didn't look away from Loke as he said, "He's an angel."

"What?!" Sting spun around but instead of facing Loke, he turned towards Natsu. "You're working with an angel?! What the hell?!"

"It wasn't my idea, trust me," Natsu said.

"So what's the deal?" Rogue asked. "How are we being summoned by an angel? And why are we being summoned?"

Natsu answered first. "Apparently he's one of two angels who can summon us, but there's some big conspiracy to cover it up."

"Well that's not true," Loke said.

"The answer to your other question is to help me get my master back. She's been taken to the Dark, and I think you two will be really helpful." Natsu looked between the pair. "Please. I'll owe you both."

Sting laughed as he elbowed the other hybrid. "Kinda nice to see the Salamander ask for help, huh? And having him owe us would be a first."

"How long are we going to be here?" Rogue asked. "If your master is in the Dark, I don't think we really have time to lollygag here."

"As long as it takes to come up with a plan," Natsu answered.

"I already have one," Loke said. "Once we get there, I can lead us to Lucy. The problem is, three of our other friends were taken and if they were split up, we'll need extra help finding them and getting them back as well."

"Well with Rogue's ability to sink into the shadows and my light, we should be able to move around fairly well and get them back quickly." He glanced at Natsu. "While it would be fun to see Natsu get in trouble for losing his charge, I like the idea of him owing me more, so I'm in."

"I am too," Rogue said. "In exchange, I want a week here in the human world. There's no rule against a human being contracted more than one demon, so we can just use your master."

Natsu shifted on his feet as he began to frown. "I don't think I like that."

"Why?" Rogue asked. "It's only a week, and I won't be spending it anywhere near you."

Loke could sense something in the air, something he had a feeling he needed to stop, so he stepped forward. "I actually also have a problem with that."

"Why are you here again?" Sting asked. "I understand Natsu, since it's his master, but why's an angel here?"

"Long story," Loke said. "All you need to know is that I am invested in getting Lucy back as well."

"Who's Lucy?"

Rogue sighed. "I'm assuming Natsu's master. How could you not figure that out?"

"Whatever," Sting said. "Is this who we're bringing?"

"No," Loke said, "there's one more. I just need a moment." He moved towards the kitchen and left the hybrids alone.

"Seriously," Sting said leaning forward, "what's up with the angel?"

"Guardian angel," Natsu corrected.

"_A guardian angel?!_" Rogue's eye widened. "Natsu, what is happening? Why are you fraternizing with an angel?"

"It's a long story, but I can't tell you." They tried to argue with him, but he stepped away. "You already agreed, so don't try to negotiate with me over it. I can't tell you, so let it go, okay? Maybe some other time."

"I'll hold you to that," Rogue said, "now let's get going."

Sting sighed. "Fine. When do we leave?"

"Whenever Loke is ready."

"Which is right now," the angel said as he returned to the living room. Behind him, a short woman with pink hair in a maid uniform followed. "So let's go."

* * *

**So I hadn't initially planned on bringing in the Dragon Twins, but they seemed like the kind of backup you bring to the Dark, so there you go. And everyone loves Virgo, right?**


	36. Chapter 36

**First order of business, a message from my son. (It was longer but I trimmed it down to the most important points.):**

**D ,;]=[poijhgfdzsds389o0p32qxsaxs f vf **

**kolp;/'jkml,;./m kjmkm,l****jjkijh****nhjkmnbghj=-09876543ewsxfghuiop;.,mnbvcdxsaqw23456yujhnbvcfgtyuikmnbhjkl,**

**savwafair: You've given me some things to think about...**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.**

* * *

As Lucy ran, all she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears and her ragged breathing. It was so dark, she could barely make out the outline of the things she ran passed. Occasionally, glowing eyes would blink open and watch her as she ran, but never followed. She could feel the presence of other beings nearby, but she never saw who or what it was. All she knew was that she needed to get out.

Suddenly, she bounced off something hard and warm in her path. She landed hard on her butt, and when she opened her eyes again she found herself in a small room. Thick bars covered the walls and ceiling, and as she looked around, she had to squint in the sudden light. The door to the room was open on the other side of her cage's door, exposing the next room. A lamp burned brightly on a table on the other side, illuminating some of her room and throwing shadows across the figure sitting on the chair.

"Where am I?" she asked. The figure remained silent, choosing to watch her instead of answer. She couldn't see his eyes, but she knew he was watching her.

"Answer me! Where am I? And who are you?" This time, a quiet chuckle escaped from under the hood in response. The figure rose and took a step towards the cage with his hands behind his back. He sighed as he watched her, content, it appeared, just standing there.

Angered, she yanked her shirt up and put her hand to her skin as she whispered, "Natsu."

The figure openly laughed at that, and when nothing happened, Lucy looked down to see her summoning tag gone. "Natsu?"

As she looked up, a large hand moved through the bars and settled over her eyes, eclipsing her vision and knocking her out.

* * *

As the rescue party arrived in the Dark, the three hybrids were immediately forced to put their hands over their ears as high pitched screeches and screams pierced the air. It was so loud, even Loke grimaced and had to cover one ear. "This place is horrible," he said.

"You're telling us," Sting responded. They listened to what appeared to be a fight nearby, until a large explosion went off, followed by a high keen and then quiet. There were other noises, so many others it was hard to name them all, but they were much more manageable for the half dragons' sensitive ears and soon they were able to remove their hands.

The alley they had appeared in was filthy and dark, barely lit enough for the group to see. It was empty of creatures, for which they were lucky, but there was very little space for them to move around. "Why here?" Natsu asked.

"The few times I've been here, this alley has always been empty. I didn't want to immediately give away our presence. I need to figure out where Lucy is, and the easiest way to do that was to come here."

"So you don't want me to just start lighting everything up?" Sting asked.

"Not yet. Once we do, we'll have to fight anything that isn't scared off by the light, so I'm hoping to keep this quiet for as long as possible."

"That will be a bit of a problem for me," Rogue said. "If this whole place is like this alley, I won't be able to use any shadows to search. I need light for there to be shadows and it appears there isn't much of that in the Dark."

"There's not a lot, no," Loke said, "but most areas aren't as dark as this. Just give me a minute to search for Lucy so we can figure out where we're going."

As Loke closed his eyes, Natsu turned in a slow circle to smell the environment. It was filthy; he could smell blood, dust, rotten food, decomposing flesh, mold, and so many other nasty and pungent smells, he had to work a bit to get the smell out of his nose. "I don't think Lucy is close," he said, "I can't smell her at all. That could be because of all of the other smells, but I don't think it is."

Suddenly, he had a thought and held out his hand. As a small flame appeared, he let out a long sigh. If his magic was working, then they were at least in the correct realm. "She's here somewhere, though."

"I was kind of hoping you'd say we were in the wrong place," Sting said. "I do not feel comfortable here. My senses are going so nuts over everything, I'm not sure I could actually sense a real threat if it showed up."

"Well that's why we have a group, right?" Natsu lightly slapped his companion's shoulder. "Don't worry, we got your back."

Loke's eyes suddenly flashed so bright, they illuminated the whole alley around them. "Okay, we're in one of the cities here, and it seems like Lucy is being held in an underground labyrinth of some sort way south of here. That's actually good news for us. There will be a finite group of creatures in that space that we can piss off with Sting's light, so we should have an easier time getting through, not to mention we'll be able to move around fairly freely with Virgo's abilities." The still silent angel gave the others a small nod at Loke's words but continued to not say anything.

"Is the whole world like this? Just a big run down city?" Sting asked as he pinched his nose.

"Have you never been here?" Loke asked.

"Neither Sting nor I have ever been here," Rogue answered.

"Or me," Natsu said. "Never had a reason before now."

"I suppose you're all still young yet. No, but there are a lot of areas like this that look like rundown towns and cities. This world used to be more like the humans' world, with day and night, and inhabited by many different races. Unfortunately, there was some sort of natural event that wiped out all the people and living creatures on this world, virtually overnight. The impact of whatever it was caused a tear between this world and the others, and the less desirable races saw an opportunity to take over. Many came from the Inbetween and lots of dark corners of the other worlds, and tried to start lives here.

"Once we figured out what happened, the angels came and fixed the crack, stopping the leaks. Unfortunately, for those who had already come here, the effects of whatever destroyed the living continued to get worse, and eventually, the sun was blotted out, leaving the entire realm in darkness. After that, the other worlds that had the magic to do so, began using this as a dumping ground for the worst of the worst, and those who should never see the light of day. There are a lot of evil beings in this world, which is why people don't visit. The worst part, is once you've been here a while, you develop a sixth sense about who should and should not be here.

"The people stuck here are always waiting for someone to visit the Dark so they can force them to use their abilities to get them out of here. This is not a good place, so we need to leave as soon as we can."

"Well get us to wherever Lucy is so we can bust her and the girls out already then!"

"Stick close," Loke said as he put his hands together. "This might take a couple jumps."

Sting, Rogue and Natsu all took a couple steps forward, and then they were being pulled along again by Loke's magic.

* * *

_Panic. _

_So much panic_.

Lucy tried once more to bring her heartbeat under control, but it felt like it just kept beating harder in her chest. Not only that, she couldn't seem to move any part of her body, and her feet and hands were numb. Her breathing was coming so rapidly she began to feel dizzy, and she hated that her body refused to obey here.

"Something is wrong," she heard a voice say. "I don't think a human's heart is supposed to beat that fast."

"Isn't it?" a deeper voice answered. "I thought it was too slow, so I gave her something to help."

There was some humming and clacking of what sounded like a keyboard. "Yep, it's definitely too fast. It should be closer to 70 beats per minute, not over a 100."

"Are you sure? That seems rather slow."

"According to the archive, we need to slow it down, so just do it, would you?"

"Fine," the deeper voice said, and then Lucy could hear movement nearby. A needle was shoved into her arm, and almost immediately her heart began to slow. "There, down to 73, happy?"

"Yes," the first voice said. "Now I have to- what is going on with her extremities? Why are they turning purple?"

"I strapped her down, duh. What was I supposed to do?"

"You idiot!" There was a loud slap and then hands began roughly unstrapping one of her feet. "Humans are not that strong, and you have the sixes on her. There is no way for her to break through, so keep them loose enough her blood can circulate, or we're going to have to amputate you idiot! The less there is of her body, the less there is of her blood, especially if we have to do surgery."

Shortly after, all the restraints had been loosened and Lucy could finally feel her hands and feet again. Once she heard them walking away from her, she tried once more to open her eyes, or even just move around, but her body continued to disobey her commands.

"Obviously you were a poor choice for this task," the first voice said. Lucy began to assume she must be a leader of sort. "Here. This is all the information we have about humans. Read it while I am gone. I should be back within the hour. I need you to stay here and monitor her while we figure out what to do with the others."

As the higher pitched voice spoke, they walked away. There were the sounds of something being unlocked and then the groan of a door. "If something happens to Ms. Heartfilia while I'm away, I will hold you personally responsible and punish you accordingly."

With a slam, the person was gone.

* * *

Loke leaned forward to place his hands on his knees as he worked on catching his breath. Moving so many people so many times without a break was wearing down on him. He'd never moved around so much in this realm, so he had been unaware that there was some sort of distortion that messed with the distances between different places. Sometimes Lucy felt very close when they stopped and other times she felt very far away, so it was hard to judge how far he should jump each time he did it. The pull hadn't ended up behind him, though, so he knew he was still heading in the correct direction.

"Are you okay, Leo?" Loke's eyes snapped her way and she whispered an apology. As he continued to try and catch his breath, Virgo put her hand on his shoulder and leaned forward to see his face. "If you give me a distance to aim for, I could help you move these people for a little while at least."

"No Virgo, it's fine." Loke stood up as he took a deep breath. "I think we're here."

"Here?" Natsu asked as he looked around. "We're in the middle of nowhere, what are you talking about?"

They were in the equivalent of an overgrown field, surrounded by flat land filled with a mix of weeds and dead plants. It wasn't as dark there as it had been in the alley, but there was still not enough light to cast any shadows.

"She's somewhere under us," Loke said as he turned to Virgo. "Do you think you can find the entrance? It might be easier to just go right to Lucy and get her, but I also have to find whoever's in charge and have a word with them, so we might as well clear the whole place out."

Sting took a step forward, a large smile making its way onto his face. "Wait, does that mean-"

"-that we get to kick some serious ass!" Natsu finished. He was also grinning as he turned to Sting and they high fived.

"Yes, but once we figure out who is in charge, you can't kill them. I have some questions that need answering first." He turned Virgo's way to see her nod as a magic circle formed under her feet and then she sank into the ground.

Natsu groaned. "Loke, you're no fun. Can't we take just a little chunk out of them? Please?"

"No Natsu. I have orders from the king and they surpass your desire to fight. I get to face whoever is running things, got it?"

Natsu ground his teeth a little bit. "Fine, but only so long as they aren't directly threatening Lucy. If they are, I will do as I see fit to save her."

Loke glanced at the other pair with them and then cast a small ball of silence around Natsu and himself. "For the _last_ time, Natsu, _I_ am Lucy's guardian angel. I have more reason to protect her than you do, so I need you to _stop_ making things out like you can protect her better than I can, or that you have more reason to. _You_ are a demon who is contracted to her for a _year_, whereas _I_ have been around far longer than you and it is my _purpose_ to protect her.

"We are on the same side, here, and so long as you're helping _me_ save her, you will listen to me and follow my orders, is that understood? I could easily send you back home and do this with just Virgo. I am trying to be nice by letting you come along, but this is still _my job_ and I will not tolerate being treated like a second rate guardian, got it?"

Outside the bubble, Sting leaned towards Rogue. "So, what do you think that's about?"

"No idea," his companion answered, "and I don't really care."

"Really? How is it not eating you up inside wondering how Natsu of all beings ended up working with a guardian angel?"

Rogue didn't answer, he just continued to silently watch the angel angrily speak to Natsu. Sting sighed as he turned back to the pair. "Any idea which one he is?"

"Which what?" Rogue asked.

"Which angel. Natsu calls him Loke, but I've never heard of an angel named that before, so it must be the name he uses in the human realm. I wonder who he really is."

"Do you never pay attention?" Rogue asked.

"Of course I do," Sting scowled. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rogue nodded towards where Virgo had disappeared. "He summoned a Zodiac angel to help with this, so he must be important if he could do that, right?"

"Yeah."

"And when we first arrived, Virgo called him by his other name. Did you really not hear her?"

"If you know who he is, just tell me already."

"He's the leader of the Zodiac, Leo the Lion."

"He's _Leo?!_" Sting's eyes were impossibly wide as he turned back in time to watch Natsu nod and raise his hands in surrender. "How?" he murmured.

"How in the world did Natsu get roped into working with _Leo_ of all angels? Over a _human?_"

* * *

_Run._

_Must run. Faster._

_Run faster._

_FASTER._

_Can't be caught._

_Can't let them see me._

_Kill them if they find me._

_Kill to escape._

_ESCAPE._


	37. Chapter 37

**I'm still not caught up on the anime yet, and I'm not comfortable using the villains without knowing their personalities because I don't want to completely botch them. The ones I do know don't quite fit what I'm working on here, so as a heads up, the bad guys in the Dark will probably all be of my own design. Or at least, inspired by non-FT characters.**

** : Thank you! This is actually a lot of fun for me, so it's no trouble at all to keep going. I've always loved writing, and having somewhere to post my work just helps give me the inspiration to keep it up!**

**Disclaimer: I will be using a lot of creatures from the D&D universe for the Dark, and I, of course, own none of them. I also don't own the Fairy Tail characters (in case I haven't said that before.)**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

_What is this place?_

As she ran, she couldn't help but notice the similarities between her surroundings and her hometown. So many of the streets looked exactly like Magnolia, she wondered if perhaps she was back home.

As she passed an alley, several flying creatures streaked passed her, groaning and screaming as they bumped into her and then kept flying. She ducked to avoid as many as she could, but one of them remained and began to fly around her head. Eventually, she managed to hit it with her hand and it went flying back into the alley. As it began to scream, she finally opened her eyes and began to scream as well at what she saw.

It appeared to be a head with wings, a grotesque, half dead face with crossed eyes and a drooling mouth. It flopped against the ground, gradually righting itself, until it was finally upright and began to beat its wings again to take off. Her scream seemed to get lodged in her throat as she got to her feet and began to run again.

_This isn't home. This isn't home_.

_Run. Run faster._

_Must escape_.

"Hey, what's going on with her heart again?" It was dark again and Lucy was once more unable to move her body.

"What do you mean?" _I recognize those voices._

"I said I wanted you to keep an eye on her while I was gone. Why has her heart rate increased again?! Seriously, I can take you off this assignment faster than you can say there's a boggle under my bed. Fix it!"

"There's nothing to fix! She's been asleep, and according to the information you had me read, it's normal for their heart rate to change during certain cycles! Back off will you? You're not in charge here."

"I _am_ in charge of this part of the facility, and if you don't want to go back to guard duty, you'd better start treating me better."

"Oh calm down, would you? I don't know who you're trying to impress, but there's no one here but us, and you know that tone won't work on me. I've known you our entire lives, so I'm not about to start calling you sir or whatever you have the other guppies here call you."

"I don't have them call me sir, but I do expect to be treated with the proper amount of respect!"

"I could be very diligent in how I show you the proper amount of respect," the other voice purred.

There was the sound of some sort of scuffle, until the higher voice finally said, "Fine, mercy!" The other person laughed. "Oh shut up. I just can't be caught by anyone else in a position like that. Now would you please keep your hands to yourself?"

"Is that really what you want?"

"Yes, now act your age."

There was another low laugh. "I'd say I'm acting _exactly_ my age."

"Well don't do it here. You're the reason we got dropped off in this world, because you just couldn't keep your hands to yourself in public. If you don't mind, I'd like to finish my work so that we can finally get out of here. This world is no place for us."

"Fine, fine." There was a little more scuffling, then a deep breath and a long sigh before footsteps began to move away. "I'm going to go stretch my legs and check on the guards. I'll be back in a little bit."

"That's fine, just stay out of trouble."

"I'll do my best."

As the door shut, the other voice sighed loudly. "What am I going to do with him?" A hand appeared on Lucy's arm, and then something wet and cold was being rubbed against her skin. "He's not so bad, you know. Neither of us are. Our home world just couldn't seem to understand why we loved each other so much, and we were banished here because we didn't fit their cookie cutter mold of what the people should be.

"I tried, I really did, to love someone else, _anyone_ else, but I just couldn't. Ova just understands me in a way that no one else can. We've been together since we were babies, so is it really so strange that we'd fall in love with each other?

"It's because of that love that we were shunned and banished here, but I can't find it in myself to hate him for it. If it anything, it makes me love him more. He stood up to the officials who came for us. He tried to reason with them, but they were ignorant. Everyone in our world is ignorant.

"Atleast Zalanoon understands."

_Run. Run faster. They're coming._

When did she get here? She didn't remember making it to this alley, or ever being here before. Lucy quickly entered the door to her left and closed it behind her. She listened for the sound of anything that may be coming after her, but heard nothing.

She was exhausted, so she looked around the room and when she saw a bed in the far corner, she immediately moved to sit on it. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it was better than the rotten looking chairs and moldy boxes around the room. Leaning back with a sigh, she continued to listen for any strange noises as she sighed and let her body relax. Surely she could afford to take a little break, right?

The pillow on the bed was so soft, and despite the surroundings, smell fairly good. As her body continued to relax, Lucy reached over and pulled the blanket over her. A nap was a good idea. There was no one else here after all. If she wanted to continue to move, she was going to have to get some rest, and maybe find some food.

She pulled the stiff fabric over her and sighed again as it slowly settled around her. Fading fast, she didn't immediately notice when the blanket began to slide under her body. By the time she did, it had wrapped around her tight, pinning her arms to her sides.

Lucy began to jerk around and thrash her body as much as she could, trying to escape the fabric wrapped around her. Her arms barely made any headway before she was wrapped up so tight she couldn't get out.

_Run. Run faster._

_Must escape._

_Must get free!_

_ESCAPE._

_Natsu…_

* * *

Natsu was positively vibrating with energy as they sank into the ground around Virgo. "Remember to hold your breath," the pink haired spirit said. The other four with her immediately made a show of taking a deep breath. "Alright, here we go."

Suddenly, they were being sucked down, fast. Natsu felt a lot of pressure from every side, but it didn't feel like he was being pulled through dirt at all. It all felt smooth, like a slip and slide. Soon, he was dropped onto the cold, hard ground, along with the others.

He managed to keep from groaning, as he immediately opened his eyes and began to check the area around him. They were in some sort of stone hallway that was lit at even intervals by torches. Natsu sniffed the space around them as the others rose to their feet, but couldn't smell anything. "I can sense the presence of other beings, but I can't smell them."

"Me either," Sting said. Rogue seemed to be having a similar problem.

"So where is she?" Loke asked.

"Here." Virgo held both hands palm up. They began to shimmer in a pale pink light before a large image projected from her hands. A series of hallways and stairs appeared as a hologram in front of her, all in a pale gray color. "There are four levels, all rather large, and I believe Lucy is somewhere on the bottom floor. I couldn't pinpoint a location because of the distortion of the surface, even though it seems to be weaker underground. There seem to be a large variety of creatures roaming the hallways, except this section of the third floor." Virgo lit up a section of the third floor in green. "And the bottom floor. The third floor seems to have more stationary guards and there were a few presences on the fourth floor that felt odd. I can't say for sure how, just that it doesn't feel like they should be here."

"Maybe those are your other friends," Sting said.

"They were acting more erratically than the ones on the upper floors, so if it is them, my guess is something's been done to them, so we may want to be careful when we get down there. This section in the corner," she said as a few hallways lit up in blue, "doesn't seem to have more than a few beings in it. The odd presences on that floor never entered that area, so my guess is it's blocked off. I could only get a feel for the interior, since you didn't want me to reveal my presence."

Loke sighed. "Alright, I think it might be a good idea to get an idea of how many creatures are roaming around on these upper floors before we move." He looked towards Rogue. "There are lights down here. Do you think you could scout out the hallways?"

"Sure," Rogue said. "Do you want me to do all the floors?"

"I think that would be best, but I'm mostly looking for a head count for the upper floors. My guess is Lucy and the girls are on the bottom floor and whoever is in charge is in this section of the third floor. Mostly I need to know if you and Sting could handle the top two floors so the rest of us could go directly to the bottom two."

"It will take me a little while, but-"

"Shh!" Natsu's head whipped around. "Other side of that corner, something is coming."

Loke whispered, "Virgo."

"Got it." The pink haired angel immediately sank into the ground.

"She can handle it. How long Rogue?"

"I'd say no more than fifteen minutes."

"We'll wait for you in this area. Hurry back." The dark haired hybrid nodded and then sank into the shadows. "Until he gets back, we need to keep quiet. Let's see if there's an empty room near here where we can wait."

"You got it," Natsu said as he began to walk down the hall towards a pair of doors. Sting looked between them before following the other hybrid.

Loke turned in time to see Virgo walking their way from around the corner where Natsu had heard the noise. She was dragging a small creature by its long hair, which was also wound around it.

"Nice work, Virgo."

"It wasn't hard," she said. "Where should I put him?"

"Bring him with for now. We can't leave him out in the open."

"Fair enough." The pair made their way towards the others where they'd stopped and were checking out the interior of the two rooms they'd found.

"Got a closet over here. Not sure there's enough room for all of us," Natsu said closing the door.

"This one seems to be for storage, too, but it's big enough to fit everyone," Sting said. He walked in a ways and then lit up the room. "Oh yeah. I think we'd be plenty fine in here. No other doors or anything, so we should be able to wait Rogue out in here in relative safety."

"Then let's get in before more things show up." Loke led the other two in and then moved to sit on a large crate as Virgo tied up her catch more firmly and then put it in one of the crates. "You didn't kill him?" Loke asked.

"No. I wasn't sure if we were killing everything in here or not, so I only knocked him out."

"So I have a question," Sting said. "Why don't we just combine all our magic and knock everything in this place out with a spell or something? Wouldn't it be easier? Unless killing everything here is one of the goals, which I am totally up for."

"We're angels," Loke said, "so we're kind of big on mercy as you can imagine. Unless push comes to shove, I'm willing to let the things that reside here live. Since we don't know what all is down here, there's no way to know what spells will actually work on the creatures here or if there are any that are immune to that kind of magic, so it might not even work. I'll leave it up to you half demons to choose how you handle your fights, but Virgo and I will not be killing anyone. Especially the person in charge. We need them alive."

"I hear you," Sting said.

"You got it," Natsu added with a small salute.

After a brief silence, Sting spoke up. "So… guardian angel, huh?"

Loke looked at Sting. He was standing with his arms crossed and his head cocked to the side as he studied the other being. "Are you still trying to figure that out?"

"Still not sure how Rogue knew so quickly. You don't smell funny or anything."

"Natsu didn't know right away either," Loke said, "So don't feel bad."

"Who says I didn't?" Natsu said with a glare.

"I do." Loke turned back towards Sting. "Are you trying to get to a point by bringing this up again, or what?"

"Just curious about your work. I've never spoken to an angel before, guardian or otherwise, and definitely not one of your level."

Loke's eye twitched. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sorry to break it to you, but I know who you are."

Loke sent a small frown Virgo's way, but the pink haired spirit only shrugged in response. "I was hoping you didn't hear that."

Sting and Natsu both tapped an ear. "Dragon's have really sensitive hearing," Sting said with a smile. "Was kind of hard to miss."

Loke sighed. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

Sting leaned his hip against the pile of boxes next to him. "I really wanna know how the leader of the Zodiac ended up working with the Salamander, but it sounds like that topic is off limits."

"You would be correct," Loke said.

Natsu tuned them out as he turned to face the door. He closed his eyes and attempted to reach out with his senses. He couldn't smell anything in the hallways. There wasn't even a scent coming off the creature Virgo had caught and brought into the room with them. Even their scents seemed to be muted. They'd been in the room long enough, he was barely picking up their scent in the hall. He could sense other presences on the floor and a few below them, but nothing about who they might be or how far away they were. Whatever had been done to the structure seriously messed with his senses.

Loke watched Natsu as he spoke with Sting, worried the hybrid might do something dumb. He wanted to be ready to stop it if he needed to. As he was telling Sting about a particularly difficult human he'd once guarded, Natsu straightened from his slouch and whipped his head around. His eyes were staring hard towards the corner and his mouth slowly fell open. Before Loke could do anything, Natsu's eyes began to change, lightening until they were a rich gold.

_Shit_. "Natsu?" Loke stood slowly and moved towards the hybrid. Virgo and Sting were silent as they watched.

"Natsu, buddy, talk to me." He stopped a few feet away. "What is it, Natsu? What did you find?"

"I can hear her," he whispered. Loke frowned, concerned about the half dragon still being so intent on his target. The Exceed had said that it wasn't hard to knock him out of the trance, but that didn't seem to be the case at the moment.

"What do you mean you can hear her?"

"She said my name." Natsu's hand moved to his side. He still hadn't bothered to replace his shirt, so they could see his hand settle on the summoning tag on his side. "I can hear her, but she's not summoning me. I don't know why. I can't feel her emotions either."

"Which means she's not feeling anything particularly strong, right?" Loke moved to stand in front of Natsu. "That means she's more than likely fine, right?"

"If he can hear her, then-" Loke glared at Sting and jerked his hand through the air, cutting him off. He gaped at the angel a bit, but huffed and stopped talking.

Loke turned back. "Natsu, look me."

"Why won't she summon me?"

"Natsu, buddy, you gotta listen to me, okay? We're going to get her back. We're working on a plan and we're going to get her back soon, okay? Look at me, man. I need you to focus."

Natsu looked up at him, but his eyes didn't change. "I need to save her." He scrambled a little to stand, but before he could get to his feet, Loke punched him with a glowing fist, knocking him out.

"What the hell?!" Sting said, straightening.

"Sit down," Loke said. "I needed to stop him from running off."

"Then talk to him! Geez."

Loke studied the other hybrid for a moment, but didn't say anything. If he hadn't noticed Natsu's eyes, he wasn't going to bring it up. He'd promised the Exceed he wouldn't tell Natsu about his lapses, but he couldn't guarantee the others would do the same, so as a precaution, he'd keep his mouth shut.

"How long, Virgo?"

"About five more minutes," she answered.

Loke sighed and leaned down to move Natsu into a more comfortable position. _Come on, Rogue, hurry._

* * *

Rogue paused over another doorway, feeling for a gap that he could slip into. He'd found Virgo's information to be mostly accurate. There were a lot of strange creatures roaming the first two floors, but it was nothing he and Sting couldn't easily handle. The third floor guards seemed better prepared for a fight, but nothing too dangerous that he could sense. It was the fourth floor that was the problem.

There was something roaming the bottom floor, a few somethings he was sure, but he couldn't get a bead on who or what. There was something in the air down here, and it was messing with his perception of the area. He'd had to duck into a room more than once and leave his shadow to cleanse himself of the effects. He was probably due for another stop before he headed back to the others.

When Rogue finally found a gap in the keyhole, he slipped into it and through the door.

On the other side, he had to move quickly to find a place to hide. This room was more brightly lit, so it was harder to be out in the open. It was also very clean and not empty, like the others he'd checked.

In the center of the room, there was a table with a blonde human strapped down. Several bags hung off hooks near her head and seemed to be attached to various needles stuck in her skin. As he watched, the other person, a thin, blue lizard looking person moved towards her with a clipboard in hand.

"Of course," the person said, "I was a little annoyed with him, but why wouldn't I be? He'd promised me a romantic dinner, but instead, we went monster hunting. I mean, come on, how could anyone find monster hunting romantic? It's not even that difficult here. I mean, a majority of this realm's population is monsters!"

The blue being took out a syringe and stuck into the woman after wiping down a spot on her arm. After it was half way full, they removed the needle and moved towards a large console. They stuck the needle into a small hole and then pushed the plunger until the syringe was empty.

"Alright, let's see here…" They began to type and several of the screens changed. "Hmm… it seems that this concoction is closer, but it's still not close enough to work. It really is a shame it takes so long for your body to replenish its blood supply. Or that you don't have any family. With a few more subjects, this would work so much faster." They sighed. "Oh well. Zalanoon said I could have as much time as I needed to make this work, so I guess we'll just have to keep experimenting, won't we?"

Rogue felt his stomach drop as he heard the blue person speak.

_Zalanoon._

He needed to get back to the others. _Now._


	38. Chapter 38

**Finally finished collecting the rest of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga! Can't wait to start reading it! FA is, and forever will be, my all time favorite anime. I'm really freaking excited.**

**FireShifter: Sorry, no, just some sounds I put together to make a name.**

**Sereneserious: It's mostly a problem of finding time to watch it and finding somewhere with the English dub but without all the ads. As for the other question, you'll get to see them next chapter and learn more about them there. (But no, they're not.)**

**Sashaplaz444: Continue to read for your answer!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Sting bolted up and turned towards the door, his entire body tense. "Something's wrong."

"What is it?" Loke asked.

"I don't know, but I know Rogue is upset about something. I can always tell when he is. I think we should wake Natsu up now. My guess is Rogue's on his way back."

Loke didn't move right away, not until Sting turned his way and he saw the look in the hybrid's eyes. He sighed. "You better be right about this."

Once Natsu had been shaken awake, he bolted up. "What the hell happened?" He winced and rubbed his jaw. "Why does it feel like I got kicked by a baloth?"

"I wouldn't worry about it right now," Loke said. "Sting says that Rogue will be back soon, so we need to get ready to go."

As Natsu stood, there was a sudden flurry at the door and Rogue appeared in a blink. "We need to get out of here as soon as we can. We don't have time to take everything out. We need to get the girls and get out _now._"

"I can't do that," Loke said. "I have a job of my own-"

"Fine, but _we_," he gestured between himself, Sting and Natsu, "can't stay here. Once we've got whoever we're saving, Sting, Natsu and I need to leave."

"What's wrong, Rogue?" Sting moved forward to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Zalanoon is here," he said. Both Sting and Natsu sucked in a breath at the same time and looked at each other, wide eyed.

"I forgot he was banished here," Natsu whispered.

"So did I." Sting rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm not so sure you owing us is worth the risk of us being here anymore."

"Woah, wait, back up. What are you guys freaking out so much about?" Loke asked.

"Zalanoon is one of the most powerful demons to ever live," Rogue said.

"Yeah," Natsu piped up. "He has some wicked persuasion magic. A couple decades ago, he roused nearly half the demon population to help him try and overthrow the demon kings."

"If it hadn't been for the dragons," Sting continued, "he would have succeeded. He's always fought with the kings about expanding our territory and allowing demons to roam freely in the other worlds. A lot of those in the lower levels sided with him, and his presence caused problems for centuries. Once he failed at his attempt to overthrow him, he was banished here, to the Dark.

"The kings even set up a special barrier on this world, so that no one who arrives here under someone else's magic can leave on their own, preventing him from using his magic to leave.

"If he's running this operation, then my guess is he's trying to find some way to get passed that barrier, or break it down completely. He's always thought the realms should mingle with each other, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what he's trying for."

"And I think he believes Natsu's master is the way to do that."

Loke's eyes darted to Rogue. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," Rogue said, "he's got someone down there experimenting on her. Or I'm guessing it's her. She's a blonde female, correct? The woman that's down there looks like the one I saw pictures of in the apartment where you summoned us."

"Yeah, that's her," Natsu said.

"Well, there's someone down there experimenting on her blood. The way they were talking, they need a lot of it, and they're upset that Lucy can't regenerate it quickly enough."

Loke ignored the stare coming from Virgo as he began to pace. "Alright, new plan. Natsu," he pointed, "you and the other half demons get the girls. Virgo can get you an express route to wherever they are, and then she'll stick with you to help gather the girls. There are four of them, and there will be four of you, so it shouldn't take long."

He looked at the other angel. "Can you handle getting them back on your own power?"

"Of course," she said. "Even with that many, I can handle it."

"Good. Rogue, did you see where the other girls are?"

"I believe they're the ones roaming the fourth floor. There's some sort of smoke filling the hallways that's messing with their minds. I had to stop a couple times to cleanse myself because I was feeling fuzzy. I don't know what state they're in, as I avoided running into them as much as possible."

"Knock them out when you find them and wait to cleanse them until you return to Lucy's apartment. I need you all to move as quickly as possible, understand? I will return once I have finished speaking with Zalanoon."

"That's not a good idea, man," Sting said.

"Zalanoon's power is almost as strong as the kings of our realms," Natsu added. "I know you're strong, but I don't know if you can stand up to him here. He's always thrived in the dark- you'll be at a disadvantage here against him, not to mention there's no way of knowing how strong his team is. I have no doubt he's found followers by now. He wouldn't have had any trouble persuading the beings here to help him. I can't allow you to fight him alone."

"Natsu, Lucy is your master. Right now, your only priority should be to get her back to her world. Unless, of course, you've decided that you'd rather not complete your contract with her? In that case, you might as well severe your bond to her now and head home."

Natsu glared. "Of course I haven't changed my mind, I just-"

"Then that's settled." Loke moved towards the door and leaned against it to listen to the hallway. "I believe the corner where we started is an edge of this building, correct Virgo?"

"Yes…"

"Then you three go with Virgo there. She will get you to the fourth floor. Don't waste any time, take care of your task as quickly as possible, is that understood?" He opened the door and glanced both ways before gesturing that it was clear.

"Yes sir," Sting said as he Rogue quickly left.

Natsu began to follow but paused. "Loke-"

"Don't. Waste. Time," Loke said with a shove.

Virgo paused as well. "Leo, this is a bad idea. I've heard about Zalanoon. You shouldn't fight him. You've used up too much magic. You'll be at a disadvantage."

Loke chuckled. "You don't know the half of it." He gave her a smile and squeezed her shoulder. "I'm not planning to fight him. I just need to know what he's up to."

"Just be safe," Virgo said. "Did you leave a beacon at Lucy's place so that I can find it to teleport back to?"

"Better," Loke said. "I left a time stop."

Virgo, the most stoic angel to ever live, stepped back with the most shocked look Loke had ever seen on her before. "_Leo_… going up against Zalanoon while you are expending that level of magic is _suicide_."

"Like I said, not planning on fighting." He gave her a small push. "Go on. Get them to the fourth floor before they're discovered. I'll be back at Lucy's as soon as I can. Don't let them lollygag."

"Leo-"

"I'll keep the portal open as long as I can, just don't take longer than necessary to get them back, got it? Now go." With another shove, they were both out the door and he was walking away.

Virgo stared after him for a while before she finally moved.

"Let's get this show on the road," Sting said when she finally joined them.

The angel sighed and raised her hands to put them against the wall. "Take a deep breath," she said as a glowing ring appeared and then sucked them in.

* * *

_Something is wrong_.

"What's with the face?"

"Her numbers are getting weird again. I'm not sure what's going on."

"Is it the injections?"

_Wrong. Wrong. It feels wrong._

"I don't think so. I'm making sure the percentage of blood stays above ninety percent, so that should be fine." The voice sighed. "Humans are so complicated. I wish I knew why Zalanoon wanted to use one for this, and why he needed this one specifically."

The lower voice moved across the room. "I'm betting it has something to do with the prophecy."

"What do you mean? I haven't heard anything about- keep your hands to _yourself_\- about a prophecy, not that they're real anyway. Where did you hear that from?"

"The guards. A couple of them heard him talking to one of his men about it when they were covering upstairs. Something about the family line being connected to the king of the angels."

_Angels don't exist._

_Something is wrong._

_Fix it. Fix it._

_Escape._

"That sounds like nonsense." There was a slap. "Hands!"

"Oh come on, Mao. It's not the first time we would have done things in your lab."

"I know that, but we have a guest in here."

"She's unconscious, just pretend she isn't here."

"She's not, look at the monitor. That number is too high for her to be unconscious."

_They know…?_

"I thought you knocked her out for the experiments?"

"I tried, but what I have doesn't actually knock her out. She seems to dip into sleep occasionally, but at best she's only unconscious for about half the time. And for whatever reason, it makes her body spasm and flop around. That's why she's in the sixes instead of the twos. The ones might even be enough to restrain her, but I can't test that anymore."

_Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong._

_Run._

Lucy screamed as she ran. When did she get here?

Behind her a large creature with purple skin ran, slowly catching up to her. It's large wings were folded against its body, and its beak continued to open and shut as it called after her. As she rounded a corner, she found a large black blob that covered the street from one side to the other.

_This isn't real. I'm not here._

_I need to get back._

_They were talking about me._

_Wrong. Something's wrong._

_Need to get back_.

_Where is he?_

* * *

Sting began to glow brightly, hoping to deter the woman headed their way, but she didn't even pause as she ran at him and tried to claw him.

"Sting, they're still human you idiot. Your light won't scare them." Rogue dipped into his shadow once more and then reappeared behind the small woman who was attacking him.

"I don't know how we're supposed to knock them out without killing them. How much force is required for that?" Sting continued to block the swings aimed at his face, completely missing the foot that connected with his shin, which made him hiss.

As Sting finally got his arms around the brunette, Virgo rose up from the ground and hit the woman at the base of her skull, causing her to slump in the hybrid's arms.

"That much," the angel said. "Rogue, catch yours now."

"I'm trying," he said, "but she's awfully quick." As he continued to try and catch her without hurting her, Virgo's hands suddenly rose out of the ground and caught the woman by her ankles. She hissed and then leaned forward to swipe at the hands holding her down. Rogue's cloak slipped in between the two and then wrapped around her, allowing Virgo to let her go and knock her out as well.

Virgo sighed. "I'm beginning to wonder why the two of you came along for this."

"Hey, it's not our fault we're not doing what we were told we'd be doing! I was supposed to scare shit off with my light, but we're not running around where that would be useful."

"I've done what I was supposed to do," Rogue said.

Sting glared at him. "Oh shut up. Now can we get out of this hall yet? Where's the other one?"

"Natsu has her in a sealed room. Follow me." Virgo quickly led them down a couple halls and into a dark room.

"About time," Natsu said. "I lit some candles that I found. Watch your feet, the floor is covered in glass and broken shit. Don't want you tripping and hurting the girls."

"Now that we've collected these three, I think it's time to send you three back with them," Virgo said.

"I don't think so," Natsu said. "I still have to get Lucy. Take them back if you want, but I'm staying here until I get Lucy back."

"I'd feel better if we didn't leave until we were sure you were safe," Sting said. "I can't collect if you die."

"I'm not going to die," Natsu scoffed then turned to Virgo. "Now either take them back and come back to go with me and save Lucy, or we're all going. You decide."

Virgo let out a noisy breath through her nose. "I'll return them first. Wait here for me."

"Wait, wait, wait," Sting said, but Virgo had already pulled the last woman her way and grabbed the two hybrids. A moment later, they were gone.

Natsu, against orders, jumped to his feet and hustled out of the room. Even through the smoke, perhaps because of it, he could smell Lucy. Whatever had been done to the upper floors had either not been done here, or the smoke negated the effects, because down here, he could finally smell the other beings around him again.

The only reason he hadn't gone after Lucy earlier was because Virgo had left Juvia with him. He wouldn't have been able to look Lucy in the eye if something happened to her friend because of him, so he'd waited for the others. Nothing was holding him back now, so he transformed, making sure to keep his wings close. In his current form, the smoke was more tolerable, so he forgoed cleansing himself and just ran through the halls towards his destination.

He found it at the end of a long hallway. It was a large metal door with rust forming around some of the edge. He took a couple deep breaths, smelling the inside of the room the best he could. There were two others with Lucy. They weren't of a race he was familiar with, but they smelled slimey, like a bog.

With a deep breath, he bared his fangs and then entered the room.


	39. Chapter 39

**I don't have a message today! We're passed the fourth and I don't have anything cool going on to talk about, so how about a tip on writing? One of the things I see messed up the most in stories on this site is the long, **_**long**_ **paragraphs that never seem to end and get hard to read. **

**If you don't know when to break for the next paragraph, just remember ****TIP TOP****. Always start a new paragraph one of these things change:**

**TI**me

**P**lace

**TO**pic

**P**erson

**Hope that helps :D**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading**.

* * *

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Making that face that means something is wrong."

Mao continued to watch the monitors as he worked. "I'm having trouble with the formula."

Ova leaned against the table where he was working. "What's the problem?"

"Well, I've been adjusting levels of each of the solutions one at a time, and the results don't make sense. Like this one. I adjusted the amount of bicardion a couple times; once I raised the amount and once I lowered it. The first result affected her red cell count, but the second affected her white cell count and the third affected the color of the blood. In the first test, it was the symvion that affected her white cells and nothing I've done prior affected the color. It doesn't make any sense."

Mao turned around to lean against the console and look at his mate. "It frustrates me. I've never had such inconsistent results during testing. I hate human anatomy."

As he laughed, Ova stood and walked his way. He was tall, very tall for someone of their race, and his skin was the most beautiful shade of blue Mao had ever seen. As Ova stopped in front of him, he leaned forward to rest his head against the other man's chest. "I just want to get us out of here. That's all I want. And I hate that it rides on my ability to manipulate human blood. I've never had this problem with any other races I've studied."

Ova wrapped his arms tightly around the other man, while his tail moved to coil lightly around one leg. "Do you know how amazing you are?" he asked.

"I don't know what I did to make you say that," Mao said with a chuckle.

"You are the smartest being that was ever born in our world, and somehow, I was the lucky one who got to become your best friend, and then later on, your mate. Anyone else one our world- hell, _everyone_ else on our planet- would have abandoned me if I'd done to them what I did to you, and instead, you keep putting all your effort into helping us get out of here."

"If you could just learn to keep your hands to yourself, we wouldn't have this problem," Mao said as his arms wrapped around the other. "It seems being banished from our world hasn't helped that any."

Ova shrugged. "We were already kicked out, what's the worst that could happen now? Zalanoon already knows, and he doesn't care, so I see no point in holding back now."

Mao sighed, but he smiled as he looked up. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Figure out this human's blood nonsense, break down that barrier, and move with me to a world where I can kiss you in public without being banished to the Dark?"

Before Mao could respond, the door was flung open and a voice screamed.

Ova whipped around and shoved Mao behind him with one hand as he pulled out his sword with another. "How did you get down here?" His eyes widened as he took in the dragon like being in front of him. There was no mistaking those scales and wings; he wished desperately that he'd kept his guard belt on while working in the lab. "What are you doing down here?"

Natsu's eyes zeroed in on Lucy where she lay strapped down to a table. She was mostly covered with a dark blanket, except for one of her arms, and there was a pillow under her head. He recognized these things as an attempt to make her more comfortable, but he couldn't seem to see passed the strap holding her down to the table.

As he stalked forward, the shorter of the two humanoid lizards tried to speak to him from behind the bigger one. Natsu ignored him as he moved to take off the first strap on Lucy's exposed arm. The voice grew more desperate and changed patterns as he began to release the limb.

"Please stop!"

Natsu paused, surprised that he could understand the other being. He paused, unable to hide his glare as he looked their way. The smaller person was now only being held back by one of the other's arms, and he was adjusting a band on his wrist.

"So I was right," he said breathlessly. "You are a hybrid."

"How did you know?" Natsu asked in his native demon language.

"I've never met one before, but I've studied dragons, and I know they have no form like that one you currently have. They have humanoid forms, sure, but they lack the wings and horns, and their scales are patchy. Only hybrids can look like you do. Although, I suppose you probably speak the draconic language of your people, too, but I wanted to test it before I used that language."

Natsu turned away. "That's nice, now if you'll excuse me-"

"Wait! Don't unstrap her!"

"Why?" Natsu growled. "In case you hadn't realized, I'm here to save her."

"He's not stupid," the taller being said. "It's for her own good that he's telling you to stop."

"It's true. She is strapped down so that she will not thrash about and hurt herself."

"Why would she do that?" Natsu asked.

"The drug she is under to keep her docile has adverse effects in humans, it seems. I did my best to keep her comfortable, but once she started thrashing around, we had to restrain her."

Natsu looked up, his eyes flashing gold. "You _drugged Lucy?_"

"We had to," the smaller one said. "I had no wish to harm her, but-"

"Natsu Dragneel, you had _one job_." Virgo appeared from the ground behind Natsu and smacked him in the back of the head. "You were supposed to _wait_ for my return before running off. This is no time to be splitting up in here."

"Virgo, do you mind?" Natsu growled, not appearing at all affected by her swing.

Mao's eyes widened. "Virgo…"

Ova looked sideways at his mate. "What is it?"

"She's an angel," Mao whispered. "One of the Zodiac, the strongest group of guardian angels in their world. Ova, we might be able to convince her to take us out of here! They're all about fairness and love, and if we tell her why we're here I'm sure she'd help us out."

"That's enough," Virgo said. "Let us retrieve Lucy and leave immediately."

"Apparently we're not supposed to do that," Natsu said. "Thing One and Thing Two said it's for Lucy's sake that she's strapped down."

Virgo turned. "Which of you is Thing One?"

Natsu slapped his forehead. "That's not their names, it's a human reference…"

"Fine. You," she pointed at Ova. "What will happen if we release her. And do not lie. I will know and you will regret it."

"The medicine in her system doesn't seem to affect humans like it does other races, so if she's not in the sixes, she will thrash around and no doubt hurt herself."

"Sixes?" Natsu asked.

"That's the restraint she's in. The sixes are one of the stronger restraints we use, and it's the first level that has a paralyzing effect."

Before Natsu could do anything, Virgo raised her hand over Lucy's chest. It began to glow a dark pink, and after a short while, Lucy jerked, and then her eyes opened.

"Lucy!" Natsu bolted forward to lean over her. "Lucy, can you hear me?"

Lucy slowly nodded her head. "I can hear you," she whispered.

"You can take them off now," Virgo said. Natsu immediately began to unstrap Lucy, who looked confused as she studied the room around her.

"Um, Miss Virgo?"

Virgo turned towards the other two. "If you fight us, I will have no choice but to end you swiftly. We are short on time, so let the value of your life keep you silent and out of the way."

"I actually was hoping to ask a favor." Virgo was surprised, but she merely gestured for the man to continue.

"My name is Mao, and this is Ova, my mate. We, well, we're not completely on board with Zalanoon's plan, but we're helping him because we want to get out of this realm."

"We don't belong here," Ova said, obviously tense as he kept an arm half raised in Mao's direction. "We were kicked out of our world because we care about each other in a way that's unacceptable there, that's all. This isn't an equivalent punishment. We shouldn't be punished at all for that kind of thing."

"All we want to do is go somewhere else. Another world that's not so gloomy and dangerous. We don't belong here," Mao said. "If we help you, can you take us with you?"

"I will see what I can do, but I will have to speak with the king first," Virgo said. "It is not my place to interfere with those sent here for punishment. The king is the only one who can interfere. Well, him and-"

"Done," Natsu said as he helped Lucy sit up.

"Good. Knock her out."

Natsu glanced over. "What?"

"What I pulled out of her has kept her in a state of half awareness most of her visit her. We can use that to keep Loke's secret from her. Knock her out with your magic so we can go."

"Alright."

"Wait!" Mao moved forward, ignoring his mate who scrambled to stay in range to protect him. "Please. I can give you all of my work. I can tell you everything Zalanoon has had me research since he recruited us. She isn't the first one I've been told to test. Please. Take us with you and I will give you everything!"

"Mao, this is a crazy plan," Ova whispered. "If Zalanoon finds out-"

"I will either get you out of here or die trying," Mao said fiercely. He maintained eye contact with Virgo as she studied him, refusing to flinch or back down. Finally, she gestured behind him. "I have somewhere I can keep you for a little while until the king makes his decision, but first you must gather that information."

"Nice people. Let them live. Save them," Lucy murmured.

Virgo and Natsu looked at each other in confusion. "I thought I told you to knock her out?"

"I did!"

"Don't worry, she's been talking in her sleep since she got here," Mao said. "It's another side effect of the drug it seems, but a non-threatening one, so I haven't tried to stop it."

"So does that mean that she's been able to hear things happening in here?" Natsu asked.

"Yes," Ova said. "Which is why Mao has been talking to her."

Mao flinched a little as he looked over his shoulder. "You heard me?"

"Some times," Ova said with a small smile. "Try not to tell the subjects all my secrets, okay?"

"Sorry," he whispered before turning back to the screens. Once he had finished, he pulled out a small device and handed it to Virgo. "That has everything on it. It's the only copy- I erased it from the system completely, so don't lose it."

Virgo stuck it in her pocket. "I will make sure-"

CRASH! As one of the walls exploded, a bright light entered the room and slammed against the far wall. Virgo recovered first and ran across the room. "Leo!"

Natsu stood up quickly, Lucy tucked against his chest, and made his way over. Mao peaked out from behind Ova, trying to see as the dust settled.

Leo, in all his angelic glory, slowly sat up. He was covered in dust and blood and his robes were ripped in several places. He was breathing hard, and as he finally opened his eyes and saw the other two nearby, his eyes narrowed. "What are you two doing here still?! Get out!"

"We were-"

"Get out," he said again, cutting off Natsu. By this point, Mao and Ova had moved to join them as well. Mao was practically hopping in his excitement of seeing a real live angel in all his glory.

"I was just about to-"

"Just about to what?" a voice said from near the broken wall.

Leo quickly raised a hand in their direction, and a moment later, they were lost in darkness. There was no way to tell up from down, and they could see nothing in the endless dark. Suddenly, a light appeared and they were falling.

Natsu grunted as he landed with Lucy on top of him. "Damn it, Loke, that hurt."

When he opened his eyes, he found Virgo already on her feet at his side. Across the room, Rogue and Sting stood, arms crossed as they stood over the prone forms of the other girls, who were all lying on the floor, covered in blankets.

The real surprise was the two beings that were a short distance away near the hallway. Ova was scrambling up to his knees and helping Mao sit up. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

"You're heavy, but that heavy. I'm fine," Mao assured his mate.

Natsu looked up. "Virgo, what just happened?"

Her eyes never left the kitchen. "Leo pushed us out of the Dark, and I brought us the rest of the way."

The half dragon glanced over and slowly sat up as he stared at the thing floating in the kitchen that held Virgo's attention so thoroughly. "What is that?"

"It's a time stop," Virgo said. "It's a spell only a few can do because it requires so much magic to hold it. It's cast when a teleportation portal is first opened from one world to another. It keeps that end of the portal open in the same time until it is dispersed. I'm guessing Leo did it so we would be able to hide what happened to the girls more easily."

"Why hasn't he closed it yet?" Natsu asked.

"I'm guessing to make sure we got through, and also so he can-"

With a loud pop, the portal in the kitchen disappeared, interrupting Virgo's words. Slowly she walked forward to stand in the space it had occupied. "Damn it Leo, get back here."

Natsu carefully laid Lucy down and then moved to join her. "Where is he? Why didn't he come through, too?"

Virgo didn't respond, just continued to wait, her shaking fists carefully hidden among her skirt.

* * *

**I know, I know, Virgo is a little weird here, but they're in a tough spot and she's worried about Loke. This isn't the only time you'll see her, though, and I promise teasing Virgo will show up later.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Did you guys know that this is the longest story I've ever written? Even incomplete, it surprasses every other story I've ever started and either abandoned or finished. It really makes a difference when you get feedback (in the form of follows, favorites or reviews.) I love each and every one of you. Keep being awesome guys.**

**Savwafair: The all caps stuff was just noises. Lucy only spoke once, in a hazy defense of the lizard folk.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy sighed and rolled over to snuggle deeper into her blankets. It was Friday, so she needed to get up soon, she was sure, but her alarm hadn't gone off yet, so for now, she'd enjoy the comfort of her bed. The nightmares she had been certain would haunt her after seeing those men at the restaurant had so far not returned, and every night she didn't have nightmares was a good one.

She sighed as she finally got comfortable. Once again, she could swear that she could smell Natsu's dark campfire smell on her pillow, but assumed it had transferred from her clothes. Excitement began to fill her as she remembered that they were having their date that evening. Even if it wasn't a _real_ date, she was looking forward to whatever Natsu had planned for them. She was sure it would… be…

Slowly, Lucy opened her eyes. It was still dark outside, very dark. As she sat up, she realized she wasn't in her pajamas. Also, she'd already gone to work. The girls had come over to help her pick out her clothes, they'd kicked Natsu out of the apartment, and then… nothing.

When she checked her alarm, she saw that it was after midnight. She stretched out her body before standing and padding barefoot out of her room. As she left, she noticed there were clothes still littering her floor from where she'd dropped them earlier. Where had her evening gone? When had the girls left? What had happened with Nastu?

The lights were all out in the apartment except for in Natsu's room. His door was shut, but the light filtered out through the bottom of his door. She paused in the hallway, not sure how to proceed. She'd never forgotten hours of her life before- not even when she'd gotten drunk. It was the most bizarre thing, and she was worried about what Natsu was going to say when she asked him what had happened.

Lucy contemplated the shadows in the living room as she stood there. Maybe she could trick Natsu into somehow telling her what happened without her asking. Surely she could find a way, right?

As she contemplated just going back to bed instead, Natsu's door opened, blinding her with the light. "Hey Lucy, glad to see you're awake finally."

"Good morning," she said, her hands firmly over her eyes.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. A little stiff but otherwise I'm okay."

"That's good. You were all passed out when I came home so I was a little worried."

_Passed out?_ "Sorry for causing you trouble."

"It's okay," he said. "I just figured you guys got too excited and wore yourselves out."

"Did the girls get home okay?" _What happened to make us pass out?_

"Yeah, I got them home fine." He tapped his nose and grinned. "A sharp nose comes in handy when looking for someone's house."

"Well, that's good."

Lucy fiddled with her nails as she wondered what she should say. She was so confused. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember what had happened. Not only that, she was sure she'd upset Natsu by skipping out on spending time with him. Tears began to form in her eyes, but before she could say anything else, Natsu reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"Why do you look so upset?" he asked, his warm breath caressing her cheek as he spoke. "I don't mind that we didn't get to go out. It won't be the only chance we have. We don't have any plans this weekend, so we can go a different night if you want, or even go out for lunch, how does that sound?"

She wasn't even sure why she was crying, but Lucy nodded as she hugged Natsu even tighter. There was something she felt like she needed to remember, something important that had happened, or maybe something she needed to do… Maybe the tears were from that? Had she spoken to the girls about something important?

"Hey, I've got an idea," Natsu said as he pulled away. "I know it's not a date, but how about we go down to that little restaurant down the block from Loke's place? They're open all night, and they have ice cream. I bet you're hungry and you know I would never say no to food."

Lucy wiped away her tears as subtlely as she could before she looked up at him with a smile. "I think I'd like that. Since I didn't have supper, I'm pretty hungry."

"Sweet." He pulled away with a big grin. "Do you wanna change first or is this okay?" he asked as he gestured at her clothes.

"I think I'd like to put on something more comfortable. Can you give me a minute?"

"Absolutely. I'll wait in the kitchen." He reached over and turned off his light before heading that way with a smile.

When Lucy finally joined him in the kitchen, she was wearing her favorite sweatpants with a long sleeved black shirt and her comfy slide on shoes. Natsu looked her up and down, and then changed his clothes as well. His jeans faded into a similar pair of gray sweats and his shirt changed into one that was red with long sleeves. A pair of tennis shoes appeared on his feet, and of course his scarf remained wrapped around his neck. He held out her denim jacket and asked, "Ready to go?"

She smiled and nodded as she pulled on the jacket. "Yeah. Let's go get some food."

After they locked the door and began to walk, Natsu reached over to tuck her arm into his. "So, how much am I allowed to get this time?"

Lucy smiled, no longer annoyed by these conversations. "Well, it is late on a Friday night, so we'll either be the only ones there, or there will be a lot of people there trying to even out the alcohol. I don't want to draw a bunch of attention if we're the only ones, so how about we wait to see how many people are there before we decide?"

"That's reasonable," he said, "but if there _are_ a lot of people, how much can I get?"

"How about three entrees and two deserts."

"_Awwww_, that's it?"

Lucy laughed as they walked, amused as he tried time and again to get her to let him have just _one _more entree, or dessert, or even a side dish. She knew he was being silly on purpose, so she let him, and even created her own silly reasons for saying no to his arguments.

By the time they made it to the restaurant, she had forgotten all about her missing time and instead just enjoyed spending time with her dragon-demon roommate.

* * *

"So, you don't remember either?" Levy asked.

"Not a thing!" Lucy rolled over and held her phone above her. She had texted the girls as soon as she woke up, and an hour later, they had all been awake and they'd started a video call. "I woke up a little after midnight and for a while, I forgot that I had already gone to work!"

"Yeah, I'm not sure I've ever lost time before," Cana said. "At least, not since I figured out how to properly drink that is."

"Did we start drinking?" Juvia asked. "I don't feel hungover and my morning breath was terrible, but not like it is after I've been drinking."

"I don't think so," Levy said. "I wouldn't have, at any rate. I was supposed to go to the library for a few hours last night, so I would have said no even if you guys pulled out any alcohol."

"This is driving me nuts!" Lucy said. "How on earth did we lose an entire afternoon and evening? Whatever happened, I completely bailed on Natsu, and I hate doing that to people, even if he does seem to be okay with it."

"Just make it up to him," Cana said. "Go out with him tonight and wear whatever we picked out for you."

"… Did we pick out an outfit?" Lucy asked.

"Oh for the _love_! It was the whole reason we came over, and we didn't even manage to do _that_ much? What the hell happened?" Cana grabbed a drink from off screen and took a long drawn on the brown bottle.

"Did we talk about anything important?" Levy asked. "Did someone have anything really juicy that we maybe hashed over until we fell asleep?"

"Juvia is having some trouble with her beloved, but nothing that would take too long to talk about," Juvia said.

"That's because you know what we think already," Cana said. "What about you, Lucy? Did you have any deep dark secret confession to share with us? Perhaps about your feelings for a certain pink haired man who just happens to live with you?"

Lucy sighed and rolled once more, making sure to put her lamp behind her to darken her face in the video as she felt her cheeks heat up. "I'm done defending myself against those accusations, move on to another theory."

"Well, there's always Levy and Mr. Piercings," Cana said.

"Pass," Levy said, adjusting on her own bed. "He didn't even call or message or anything about our missed date, so I'd rather not talk about him actually."

"I'm sure he's curious about what happened," Juvia said.

"Yes," Levy said, sarcasm heavy in her tone. "So curious that he didn't even try to find out what happened. Next!"

"Well I don't know," Lucy said, "but whatever it was, it happened in a relatively short amount of time. Natsu said he got back here a little before five and we were all just snoozing away in my room."

"Was I at least cuddling those amazing knockers?" Cana asked.

"I didn't ask," Lucy said. "So quit thinking about them."

"Kinda hard to do when they're right there," Levy said.

Lucy looked down and saw that her tank had been pulled down by her rolling around. She quickly yanked it up, ignoring the whines from Cana and the laughter from Juvia. "Alright, all that aside, do you guys want to help me try again to pick something out for tonight?"

"No need," Cana said. "I know exactly what you should wear."

"What?"

All three girls spoke at the same time. "The little black dress."

"What?! Are you insane?"

"A little," Levy said, "but not about this."

"Guys, please, that's a terrible idea."

"Why do you think that?" Juvia asked.

Lucy felt herself blush as she rolled on to her side. "Because that's my I'm-really-sexy-and-you-should-think-so-too dress. I'm not going to wear that on a friend date!"

"Oh come on, Lucy, what are you afraid of?" Cana asked.

"I'm not afraid," the blonde argued.

"I think you are," Levy said.

"Juvia agrees."

"Guys-"

Cana cut her off. "You just be quiet for a minute and listen to us."

Lucy opened her mouth to retort, but the looks on her friends' faces stopped her. Instead, she propped her head up in her hand and nodded at them to continue.

Levy went first. "Lucy,I know you keep saying this is just a friend date, but we can clearly see that you're just saying that to protect yourself," Levy said.

"Yes, and we think that you should stop trying to keep that distance and give Natsu a shot as a real date and potential boyfriend."

"What?!" Lucy pulled her phone close to her face. "Guys, what are you talking about?"

"You, being the happiest we have seen you in a long time," Levy said.

"Yeah. Ever since Natsu showed up, you've really seemed to come out of the shell you've been in these last few years. Ever since you got weird during that extended trip away, you haven't been yourself," Cana said. "You're still you of course, but you seemed to be hiding some of yourself. At least until Natsu came around. You seem… is looser the word I want?"

"Relaxed," Juvia said. "You don't seem to be hiding behind a wall anymore whenever you talk to new people. You're more direct when you turn the guys down at the bar and you don't get so nervous about them talking to you and asking you out. Heck, you even agreed to go on a date with a guy you'd only met a couple times. I don't think you would have done that half a year ago."

"That's true, I suppose."

"So we think you should do it right," Levy said. "Do the real thing, go on a real date. Go out with Natsu and see where things go. And if you end up falling in love and moving to wherever it is he eventually decides to settle down, we'll be sad of course, but we'll still be here. We'll still be your best friends, and we'll still be supporting you." Levy pointed at the screen. "I don't want you to let what happened with Stier and those other guys deter you from giving a good guy a chance to be with you, understand? Natsu is great, and I have a feeling that the reason you're so against giving Cana a shot is because _you_ want to be with him, isn't that right?"

Lucy swallowed, unsure how to respond. What they were saying was completely reasonable. It all made the best sense, and under normal circumstances, she would take their advice and run with it.

However, it wasn't a normal circumstance. Her roommate wasn't just some gorgeous former friend that she could grow close to and potentially fall in love with. He was a demon, one who was contracted to her and would be disappearing within the year. So even if there was a part of her that wanted to just take her friends' advice and go for it, she couldn't.

"I really wish I could guys, but there are extenuating circumstances that keep me from doing that." The girls all began to smile wide, hair raising grins. Lucy sat up as she watched them, her concern steadily growing. "What? Why are you guys smiling like that?"

"Because you just admitted it!" Levy said.

"Yep, you just said you wanted to date him," Juvia added.

"I- I did not!"

Cana brought a hand to her chest as she began to flutter her eyelashes. "I _really_ wish I could guys," she said in a terrible fake Lucy voice, "but there are blah blah blah blah blah. Come on, lady, just go for it!"

"I can't, okay? I just can't."

"Lucy-"

"Sorry guys, I have to go," Lucy said, cutting off Levy. "I'll talk to you guys later." Once she hung up and put her phone down, she fell back on to her bed and contemplated her choices. Plue hopped up onto the bed and came to curl up next to her him. Lucy moved her hand closer to pet him, causing him to purr.

"What do you think, Plue?" Plue's only response was to purr louder. "That's what I think, too. He's a half demon, half dragon hybrid, and I'm a boring little human who lives a life free of magic and adventure most of the time. There's nothing there, right?"

Even as she spoke, she remembered the looks Natsu had given her. The ones where his eyes had flashed gold and his entire being seemed to focus in on her and nothing else. She remembered when it had happened in the living room, right before Happy asked her not to point them out to Natsu. When he had gotten so close and nuzzled her. Just the thought made her body heat up, and she had to remind herself more than once that those moments had meant nothing. It hadn't been Natsu that had done that. She didn't know what it had been, but Natsu didn't remember doing it, and he'd never done it when he wasn't in that trancelike state, so it didn't mean anything, right?

Natsu interrupted her thoughts with a holler from the kitchen. "Hey Luce! You have a visitor!"

"Who is it?" Lucy asked as she sat up, careful not to move Plue.

"New neighbors," Natsu called.

Curious, Lucy rose and made her way out to the kitchen. Natsu stepped away from the door so she could squeeze by. "Hello?"

"Hello," the shorter of the two men said. He was wearing a bright orange shirt with a pair of jeans and sandals and his blond hair was swept back into a small bun. "My name is Maverick and this is my mate, Oakley." He gestured at the taller, broader man standing behind him. Oakley was wearing a gray shirt with his jeans and tennis shoes, and he had long dark hair pulled back into a low pony. He nodded his head as he was introduced and gave her a small smile. "We just moved in next door and wanted to introduce ourselves."

Lucy found his use of the word _mate_ to be a little weird, but she thought they made a cute couple nonetheless. "Oh, that's so nice! It's been empty for a while, so I'm glad it finally has residents again. My name is Lucy," she said, holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

The pair looked at each other, and then Maverick looked over her shoulder toward Natsu before reaching forward to take her hand. She continued to smile at him as she gave him a firm shake. "It's very nice to meet you as well."

Oakley also shook her hand before retracting it and putting it around Maverick's waist. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"So where did you two live before you moved to Magnolia?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, very far away from here. In fact, this place almost seems like a completely different planet."

"I'm sure it's not all that different," Lucy said.

"It most certainly is," he said. "In many ways, it's- _hands!_" Oakley pulled away the hand that had been rubbing Maverick's side.

Lucy blinked, confused when his exclamation triggered something in her memory. What he'd said felt familiar in some way, but she didn't know why.

Maverick turned around and scolded Oakley. "I'm trying to make a good impression on our neighbors, so please behave!"

"Oh, he's fine," Lucy said. "Honestly, I don't mind seeing PDA, as long as it's, you know, within reason. You don't have to pretend in front of me. I've never minded much who loves who as long as both parties are happy, you know?"

Maverick turned back her way, eyes wide and misty as his lips began to quiver. He stared at her for a long moment as though she'd just given him something he had waited his entire life to have. Tears welled in his eyes and she suddenly found herself in a bruising hug. "Thank you," he whispered in a watery voice. "I am so so sorry, and thank you so much. You don't know what it means to me to have someone say that to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Can't… breathe."

Immediately, the arms disappeared from around her and Maverick backed away with his hands up. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to."

"It's fine," Lucy said. "It just got a little tight."

Maverick chuckled nervously and then glanced at Natsu again. "Well, I suppose we'll leave now," he said with a quick swipe under his eyes to collect his tears. "We just wanted to say hi."

"Well it was nice to meet you," Lucy said. "If you ever need help finding something in town, just let me know. I've lived here my whole life, so I can help you find just about anything."

"Thank you," Maverick said again. "I might take you up on that. We'll see you around!"

"See you," Oakley said.

"Bye!" Lucy shut the door and then watched out the window as the pair left. Oakley reached over to wrap an arm around Maverick and didn't seem at all affected as the shorter man waved a finger at him. In fact, instead of letting him go again, he merely leaned down and kissed the other man on the head. "I like them," she said.

"It's always good to like your neighbors," Natsu said.

"So, what are we doing tonight?"

Natsu leaned against the doorway. "Does that mean you've decided you want to do dinner and not lunch?"

"Yeah, I think I'd prefer that. There's some leftovers in the fridge I wanna eat for lunch. We can go to that cafe tonight, if you're okay with it."

"I could eat," he responded with a grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You're a dork."

"But you love me," he said as he pushed off from the wall and made his way into the living room.

Lucy's heart stuttered before taking off again. The words didn't mean anything, but her traitorous heart was putting meaning into them that wasn't there.

_Demons will do it with just about anyone who's willing_.

Much to her chagrin, Lucy felt her body heat up as she remembered Natsu's words. Then her friends' words began to spin around in her head, and she wondered if, perhaps, she _could_ have some sort of relationship with Natsu. Even if they couldn't be together forever, he would be around for several more months.

Lucy was an adult. She could handle a physical relationship without getting too attached, right? Assuming Natsu would go for that kind of thing. She'd wondered more than once if they could learn from each other, so perhaps it was time to give it a try. Perhaps there was some super secret demon or dragon move he could teach her that would give her the most amazing orgasm of her life. Did she really want to risk missing out on that just because she was worried about catching feelings and getting her heart broken? Really?

She moved to follow him into the living room. "Hey Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about the color black?"

* * *

"_**What? That's it? But what about Loke?!" **_**-Every single one of you readers**

**Sorry kids! You'll have to wait until next time… *evil grin***


	41. Chapter 41

**This one is a tad short, but if I hadn't cut it off where I did, it would have been twice as long as usual by the time I found a good stopping point.**

**Savwafair: Initially I hadn't chosen where I was sending them, but I like them too, so it wasn't hard to find a way for them to hang out where we could see them on occasion.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"I don't understand," Virgo said.

"I don't either!" Natsu exclaimed as he threw up his hands. "But it has to mean something, right? I mean, she gave me the weirdest smile after that and _refused_ to tell me why she asked! What does it matter if I like black?"

"That's not what I'm talking about," the angel said. "I meant I don't understand why you're asking me."

"You're the only one I can ask. It would be weird to ask any of her friends, Happy isn't here and probably wouldn't know anyway, and I don't know where Loke is."

Virgo continued to make her way around the bar, the polishing rag in her hands moving in quick circles. "You know where Loke is."

"If I knew, I would be talking to him."

Virgo paused and looked up at him. "Natsu, he hasn't returned yet."

Natsu felt his stomach drop as he watched the other angel return to her work. "What do you mean? Hasn't returned from where?"

"From the Dark."

"What?!" He shot to his feet. "Then let's go get him! We can't just leave him in Zalanoon's clutches if he's stuck in there!"

"I have my orders. I can not return to the Dark while Loke is absent from the human world."

"Then send me!"

"I can't do that either."

"Why not?!"

"In the event of Loke's absence, I must move into the primary role of Lucy Heartfilia's guardian angel. Not only would I have to go with to send you there, but the king has informed me that I am to make sure you remain with Miss Lucy here as well. In fact, I should be forcing you out of here and making you go back to her apartment, but I sent the twins as soon as you showed up. Also, the Leezars agreed to help keep an eye on her as well in exchange for being able to live in this world."

Natsu blinked, completely confused. "The Leezars?"

"The pair that we saved from the Dark," she said as she moved behind the bar once more. "They are currently residing in the formerly empty home next to Lucy's."

"I've never seen their race before, so I didn't know what they were called. I knew they were there, though. They showed up earlier to introduce themselves."

"I'm glad. Part of their task is to befriend Lucy so they will have reason to spend time with her."

Natsu couldn't quite stop the growl that rose up in his throat. "Why do you guys think you need so many people watching Lucy?"

"I would think that was obvious. With only you and Loke watching her, she was easily snatched up in her own home. We have increased safety measures within her home, as well as increased the number of people watching over her to make sure it does not happen again. We are in a crucial time frame right now where we can't risk Lucy being taken away again."

"What's so crucial about it?" Natsu asked.

"I can't tell you." She leaned forward to remove his arms from the bar and polished the exposed wood. "Now please return to Lucy's so the twins can return. I am in charge of the bar while Loke is absent, but they know more about running this place than I do and I need to speak with them before we open later."

Natsu pushed the chair back in after he stood up. "I still don't understand why this place isn't open for lunch."

"They tell me it's because of the aesthetic, but I don't quite get it."

He shrugged as he headed for the door. "To each his own I guess."

Just before he opened the door, Virgo called out to him again. "Natsu."

"What?"

"I believe that you will like the reason Miss Lucy asked about the color black."

He turned around and cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

Virgo gave him a sly smile. "You'll find out. Just trust me."

"But-"

"I'll see you later, Natsu. I promise Loke will be back before you know it, so don't worry. Now, please leave. I have work to do." With that, Virgo left the bar and made her way towards the kitchen.

"Why are all these guardian angels so weird?" Natsu mumbled as he left.

* * *

"Well, what do you think Plue?" Lucy asked as she turned in a circle. The white feline continued to sleep, completely ignoring her words. "That's fine. It's not meant to work on you anyway." She grabbed her small black purse off the hook next to the closet and then began transferring her things from her other purse.

There was a soft knock on her door. "Hey, Lucy?"

"What is it Happy?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." She turned around as the Exceed pushed open the door. "What's up?"

"I was just… what are you wearing?!" Happy began to slowly sink towards the floor as he stared at her, wide eyed.

"Uh, a dress? What's wrong?"

"Take it off!" he yelled as he zoomed towards her. "Or put something over it! Natsu can't see you like this!"

Lucy swatted his hands away as he tried to grab at her dress. "Happy, what the heck are you talking about?! Leave my clothes alone!"

"Then at least put on a shirt or something else with it, please! Natsu _really_ can't see you like this!"

"And why not?" Lucy asked as she put her hands on her hips. "It's never mattered what I wore before, so why are you getting so angry now?"

"Why are you wearing something so revealing?" he asked.

Lucy ignored the color she could feel rising to her cheeks. "Wh-what does that matter?"

Happy floated closer, so he was only a few inches away from Lucy's face, and squinted his eyes as he studied her. "What are you hoping is going to happen tonight?"

"I'm not hoping anything is going to happen!" Lucy grabbed her purse and then pushed her way passed the demon. "I don't have to defend myself just because I dressed up nice. Go away, you flying furball."

"Lucy, I don't think it's a good idea for Natsu to see you like that."

"Why? What's so wrong with Natsu seeing me dressed up?"

Happy's hands fluttered around nervously as he followed her. "Lucy, please…"

She paused as she studied him. He looked nervous. The last time he'd looked that nervous had been when… "Does this have something to do with his lapses in awareness?" she asked.

He crossed his arms and turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

_I knew it_. "It is, isn't it?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said more firmly. "I'm going back to our room."

Lucy caught him at the door and shut it before he could leave. "Tell me Happy."

"I- I can't," Happy stuttered.

"If you don't tell me, Happy, I'll tell Natsu about the gold eye stuff."

Happy twisted around and grabbed her face. "You can't! You already promised you wouldn't!"

"If you really don't want me to, then you'd better answer me, Happy." Lucy tried to look firm, even if she knew she wouldn't break the promise she'd already made him.

"But Lucy-"

"Tell me, Happy."

"Fine! It does, but I can't tell you anymore than that, okay? Please Lucy, just put something else on!"

"I think I'll be fine, Happy."

"It's not you I'm worried about," he said.

"I'll make sure to keep Natsu from doing anything crazy, okay?"

"But Lucy-"

"Happy, enough! There's a reason I'm wearing this, and I'm not going to change, so just leave it alone already."

Happy's eyes went wide. "You're wearing it on purpose?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I am," she said, crossing her arms.

"But are you…" Happy's eyes went wide, and then he gave her a knowing smile. "What's the reason?" he asked.

Lucy stuck her hand in his face and opened the door. "It doesn't matter, Happy, now get out of the way. Natsu will be back soon."

"Where is Natsu?" he asked as he followed her.

"He said he had a quick errand to run before we left," she said as she made her way through the kitchen towards the entryway.

Happy giggled as he sat on the table. "That sounds right."

"What?" Lucy pulled her leather jacket out of the closet and turned his way as she shut it. "What do you mean by that?"

"Step Two," he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Confused, she walked towards him and hung her jacket on a chair. "What's step two?"

"Nothing!" He hopped back up in the air. "I'm going to our room, have a good night!"

"Wait, Happy! Come back here!" Unfortunately, he was too quick and she was unable to even cross the kitchen before she heard the door slam behind him. She sighed as she moved to put on her shoes. "Damn demon, being so cryptic."

Meanwhile, Natsu returned from his trip to the store. He'd told Lucy he had a quick errand to run so he could run out and get her a new bouquet of flowers. He'd been unable to salvage the first one after Ova had gotten into it, so he'd had to toss them and get a fresh one. As he walked toward the front door, he could see Lucy at the kitchen table through a slit in the curtains. He took a deep breath as he paused at the front door.

_Step One: Wear something nice._

He'd changed into the same outfit he'd chosen initially for their date, so he was good on that one.

_Step Two: Bring her flowers when you pick her up_.

He subconsciously tightened his grip on the bouquet in his hand as he lifted them in front of himself, before quickly putting them behind his back. Happy has said something about surprising her, so perhaps they shouldn't be immediately on display?

He sneaked a look through the window and could just make out the clock. Seeing that it was time, he decided to go with hiding the bouquet right away and knocked with his free hand.

_Step Three: Pick her up_.

Natsu saw her stand immediately and move to open the door. "Hey, Natsu," she said, surprised. "Why didn't you just come in?"

"I'm picking you up," he said with a wide grin. "Here, these are for you!" He pulled out the flowers with a flourish.

"Natsu! They're so pretty!" She immediately took the flowers and brought them to her nose to smell them.

"Not nearly as pretty as you," he said, not at all concerned that he was following Happy's steps out of order.

_Step Six: Compliment her._

Lucy looked away with a small smile. "Oh. Thank you, Natsu." She took a step back and said, "How about I put these in a vase quick and then we can leave?"

"Sounds good," he said, moving to follow her inside.

She gave him another smile before returning to the kitchen. After Natsu shut the door, he turned back and got his first full look at Lucy's outfit. She was reaching up into one of the high cupboards, easily showing off her lithe body. As she carefully pulled a glass vase down, Natsu got a great view of her back and butt, not to mention the mile long legs her short dress revealed.

As Lucy finished filling the vase and adding the flowers, she felt Nastu move to stand behind her. She set the vase back down on the counter, but before she could turn, Natsu's arms wrapped around her and he buried his face in her neck. Lucy's voice fled as he began to purr against her skin.

His hands grabbed on to her sides and then slowly slid up and down, instantly sending waves of heat through her body. His nose slid upwards and buried into the hair on top of her head, causing shivers to spread across her skin. Lucy had to try several times to make enough room for her to move in his arms.

When Lucy finally managed to turn around, she was able to clearly see the gold through the slits of his eyes. As they opened, they instantly shot down to stare at her front and study her intently as his hands continued to move up and down her sides.

Lucy was glad she'd decided to wait to put on her jacket until after Natsu saw her and fervently hoped that he wouldn't respond like this when they arrived at the restaurant. Either way, she'd figured out she was right about why Happy was concerned, and figured out that this side of Natsu, at least, definitely liked her outfit. Now she just had to figure out if the rest of him did too, and move on to the next stage of her plan.

"Natsu," she whispered. His eyes didn't leave her figure. Instead, they closed and he moved forward to lightly rub his nose against her neck.

Lucy cleared her throat and gave him a small push. "Natsu, if we don't leave soon, we're going to be late."

The movement caused Natsu to blink and he took a step back as his eyes cleared. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked with a shake of his head.

"We should leave," she repeated as she moved to grab her jacket. "We don't want to be late, do we?"

"Yeah, I mean no, sorry. Yeah, we should leave." He glanced between the entryway and the sink before slowly following her with a very confused expression.

When had he gotten over there?

* * *

**I know I said next time you'd see Loke, but that was a fib. It'll be awhile before we find out what's going on with him. He's a little… tied up at the moment.**


	42. Chapter 42

**I apologize in advance. Kind of.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Once they made it out to the sidewalk, Natsu reached over and took Lucy's hand.

"Do you mind?" he asked as he lifted their linked hands.

"Not at all," she responded. "You're really warm, and it's a bit chilly out here."

Natsu caught himself looking at her legs and turned away quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed. Although he wasn't sure why, he felt like it wasn't a good idea to be caught staring like he'd been doing. "If we walk a little closer together, I could help with that," he offered.

She looked up and gave him a big smile. "That'd be great!" Lucy unhooked their hands and then moved his arm over her head to rest along her shoulders before wrapping an arm around his waist. "Is this close enough?"

Natsu felt his body growing warm on its own and had to swallow a bit before answering. "Uh, yeah, that's perfect."

Lucy leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. "I really like this," she said.

When he glanced down at her, Natsu found that his eyes got caught on the tantalizing display of her breasts, which were exposed by the open V of her jacket. "I… really do, too," he said, completely caught up in staring at her. For a little while, they were both quiet, and Natsu continued to watch the sway of her breasts as she walked next to him.

It wasn't until Lucy steered them around an approaching couple that he was finally able to drag his eyes away. He began to look around to distract himself and completely missed the grin on Lucy's face as she looked forward again.

"It's a nice night," she said, "despite the cold."

"It is," he agreed.

"I still wish it wasn't so bright here," she mused as she looked up at the sky.

"Why do you say that?" he asked as he steered them around a potted plant.

"You can't see the stars very well here." Natsu looked up as well to see what she meant. "I've done some driving around outside the city but I still haven't found a good place to go out stargazing. I really wish I could. I really love the stars," she whispered, raising her free hand to link her fingers with his.

Natsu adjusted his fingers slightly, and then allowed his magic to flow softly through his fingers so he could read her. She was thinking about a night when she'd been young and gone out stargazing with her mother. While they'd been out, her mother had taught her some of the constellations and told her stories about them to distract her from her father being gone on business again. The place they were in was beautiful, a small clearing surrounded by a quiet creek and willow trees.

"I know what you're doing," she whispered.

Natsu immediately cut the connection as he glanced down at her. "I don't know what you mean."

"You were reading me, right?" She squeezed his hand a little as she looked up at him. "You've done it enough I know what it feels like, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that I noticed."

"Sorry," he said. "I was just curious. I should have asked before I looked."

"I don't mind," she said as they rounded the last corner. "I like that you want to know what I like."

The smile she gave him felt similar to the one she'd given him after her blasted color question and caught Natsu off guard. He couldn't come up with anything to say as she began to lead him towards the door of the cafe they were headed for.

_Step Four: Open doors for her_.

"Hold up, I got that," he said rushing forward to get to the door before her.

"Thank you," she said with a small squeeze of his arm.

Natsu blinked, completely confused again as he felt something in himself respond. _What is she doing to me?_ he wondered before following her inside. Lucy had already spoken with the host, who was grabbing them menus and pointing the way. "If you'll follow me, please."

Natsu followed behind Lucy, trying and failing to keep his eyes off her body, to a table near the back. As the man placed the menus on the table, Natsu moved forward to help Lucy with her coat. "Let me," he said.

"Thank you," she said, allowing him to pull the jacket down her arms.

_Step Five: Pull out her chair for her_.

Natsu hung her jacket on the back of her chair and then pulled it back. Lucy was clearly surprised as she looked up at him, but he just smiled at her as she moved forward to take a seat. Once she was pushed up, Natsu moved to sit in his own seat, but not before he caught the host staring at Lucy's exposed skin. With every ounce of willpower he had, Natsu managed to himself from growling or assaulting the other man, but as he passed by him, he stepped none-to-nicely on his foot.

When the host looked up and opened his mouth to say something, Natsu merely glared at him with as much fire as he was able. The host backed down immediately and then introduced the server, who was just arriving, before leaving with a small limp.

"Hi," the girl said as she pulled out a small pad and pen. "My name is Rachel and I'll be serving you today. Can I get you started with anything to drink?"

"I'll just have a water," Lucy said.

"Make that two," Natsu added.

"Sounds good. Would you two be interested in any appetizers?"

"Yes," Natsu said as he quickly read through the list. "Can we get nachos and cheese curds?"

"Absolutely," the waitress said as she wrote on her pad. "Would you care for any extra salsa or sour cream on the side?"

"Yes to the salsa, and can you put extra cheese on the nachos?"

"We sure can," the woman said as she scribbled. "Will that be all?"

"I think that's plenty for now," he answered with a grin.

"Then I will put those orders in and return shortly with your waters."

Lucy couldn't help but notice the way the waitress smiled at Natsu as she spoke to him, or the way she looked back as she made her way to the kitchen. When she caught Lucy's eye, she merely smiled before turning away again.

Natsu quickly scanned the menu and then looked up at Lucy once he'd made his choices. So far, he'd done well with Happy list, but it was the next two steps that were going to take the most effort and he was damn well going to do them right.

_Step Seven: Listen to what she has to say. Ask questions and show an interest in what she talks about._

_Step Eight: Look into her eyes when she's speaking._

"So, I had a question," Natsu asked as he set aside his menu. "You mentioned that there are three big holidays at the end of the year, right?"

"Yep. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Technically there's four if you count New Years. Why do you ask?"

"You and the girls spent a lot of time planning for Halloween and Thanksgiving. It's almost the end of the month, if I'm not mistaken, so why haven't you guys been planning for the next one? I noticed some decorations got put up, but that's about it. So what's the deal?"

Lucy finished looking through the last page and chose her food before looking up to respond. "Unfortunately, everyone seems to be busy with their own thing this year. Cana's father is going to be in town so she's out. Levy's parents are taking her on a trip out of town to celebrate with her extended family so she'll be gone. Juvia said she was invited to go somewhere with Gray and Lyon, although I suspect that invite wasn't given willingly, and it sounded like Gajeel would be joining them, not to mention Jet has his own family to celebrate with."

Lucy sighed as she put her chin in her palm. "I know Loke doesn't have anyone else to celebrate with, but he hasn't said anything yet. Not to mention I haven't actually spoke to him since Monday. I expected a text or something about missing bar night last night, but he hasn't messaged me at all. It's kind of weird, to be honest."

Natsu had to fight hard to maintain eye contact as he responded. "It can't be easy running a restaurant. Everyone gets busy and doesn't respond to messages. Besides, since both you and Levy were supposed to have dates last night, I'm sure he knew you weren't going."

"I suppose," Lucy said as she fiddled with her necklace. She sighed and sank into her seat a little. "I was really hoping to salvage _some_ sort of Christmas party, but I just don't see that happening now."l

"You could celebrate with me!" Natsu reached across the table to grab her free hand. "I don't know a lot about the holiday, but I'm sure I could figure it out. We could do all the things you're supposed to do at Christmas time, just the two of us, what do you say?"

_Just the two of us? What the hell Natsu! How could I forget about Happy? We both love parties, so why the hell am I so excited about the idea of spending time celebrating with _just _Lucy?_

"Oh, I don't know," Lucy said. "I'm sure Happy wouldn't be too happy about that. We should at least invite him."

"Of course," Natsu said, forcing a laugh. "I meant just us _three_. I would never leave Happy out of a party like that."

When she grinned at him again, Natsu decided he would never get enough of her smile, and then promptly wondered where such a thought had come from. "So, uh, what kind of things are we supposed to do?"

"Well for starters, we'll need some proper decorations in my house. I haven't put up my tree or decorated it yet, and I have several strands of lights and stockings and other things to put up around the house. We should bake some cookies, sing some carols, although last year the girls and I went carolling around the neighborhood and that was actually pretty fun. It probably wouldn't be quite as fun with just two, so we'll have to wait until next… uh…" Lucy cleared her throat. "Anyway, uh, I like to watch some of the classic Christmas movies on Christmas Eve, and then of course set out milk and cookies for Santa."

"Santa?"

Lucy smiled while desperately trying to keep her glee hidden. This was an opportunity that didn't come around often, and she was damn well not going to lose it. "Yeah. Santa. He's the jolly man in the red outfit that brings gifts to all the good little girls and boys."

"You… let a man come into your house on Christmas to deliver gifts?"

"Of course. He's Santa Claus, so why wouldn't we? He works with his elves all year long to make all the gifts for everyone. Then, on Christmas Eve, he puts all the gifts in his sleigh and his reindeer pull it across the globe so he can deliver all the presents."

"Hang on, he does _what?_ How on earth could he possibly visit every single person on the planet in one night? That's impossible!"

Lucy gave him the most serious look she could manage. "It's usually just kids, but it's not impossible, he does it every year. He's magic."

"Oh _puh- lease_, I don't buy it."

"Natsu, I'm serious. It happens every year."

"I won't believe it until I see it," he said.

"Don't worry, you will," she said with a smile.

"Here you are!" Their waitress appeared at their side and set down their waters. "Are you ready to order or do you need some more time?"

"Are you ready?" Lucy asked Natsu. She was annoyed that the waitress appeared to be directing her words entirely towards Natsu, but she was determined to remain cool about it.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Why don't you go first?" he offered.

Lucy was a little surprised, but she gave him a smile and looked up at the waitress, who was still facing her roommate. "I'll have the chicken parmesan with a side of steamed veggies."

"Sounds good!" The waitress took a small step closer to Natsu. "And what can I get you?"

"I'm going to take one of the bacon burgers with fries, one plate of your lasagna with a side of garlic bread, and a sirloin steak, rare. I think that one also comes with fries, but can I get some veggies instead?"

Rachel looked surprised as she took his order. "I can absolutely do that for you. Are you sure you want to order all of that right now?"

"For now, yeah, unless I should order dessert, too?" He looked at Lucy as he spoke, the question obviously directed her way.

"No, that's all for now," Lucy said, answering the woman's question. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'll just take these then, and your appetizers should be out soon."

"Thanks again," Natsu said. Lucy definitely saw the waitress's cheeks turn pink as she stared at Natsu. She cleared her throat, making the other woman jump and then scurry away with the menus.

"That was weird," Natsu said, his brows tight together in confusion. "Why was she staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

Lucy laughed. "No, Natsu, she was staring because she likes you."

"She likes me?" He glanced over his shoulder. "How can she like me when she doesn't even know me?"

"Oh come on, Natsu. You know what I mean."

"I… I don't think I do."

Lucy stood slightly so she could lean across the table to whisper, "She thinks you're attractive."

Natsu didn't respond right away, since he was too distracted by the substantial amount of cleavage she was flashing him with. Which was ridiculous, he knew, but he couldn't seem to look away. Lucy frequently wore low cut tops and he'd never been so enthralled before, so why was it suddenly so hard to look away?

"So, which one do you want to start with?" Lucy asked as she sat back down. She barely managed to contain her laughter as she watched his eyes bug out of his skull and then flicker back and forth across her chest.

"I… What? Which one _should_ I start with? What-"

"I think I'm going to start with the cheese curds," Lucy said, then reached forward to grab one.

"Cheese… curds?" When he finally managed to return his eyes to her face, she was giving him a half smile and waving a cheese curd at him. "_Oh!_ Yeah, I, uh, I think I'm going to start with the nachos."

_Step Nine: Mind your manners while you're eating._

_Step Nine: Mind your manners while you're eating._

_Step Nine: Mind your manners while you're eating._

Natsu recited the step in his head multiple times to distract himself. Lucy watched him as he focused all his attention on his food. She had to admit, it was nice to see that she could affect him with her body. Even after seeing her half naked several times after he'd arrived, he had never had a reaction to her until their trip to the mountains. Even then, it had been that altered personality, or whatever it was that took over and seemed so focused on her, and not Natsu himself.

This, though, this was definitely Natsu that was being affected by her, and she had to admit it gave her a rush to be able to get those kinds of reactions out of a supernatural being like him.

"So, is there anything else you wanted to ask me?"

Natsu made sure to swallow everything in his mouth before he answered. "I did have some other stuff I was curious about, yeah."

For the next hour, they ate their food and spoke about everything from presents to secret santa to where Santa lived to how reindeer could fly to typical Christmas food. Lucy was continually impressed by Natsu's unusual table manners, and Natsu was continually distracted by the way she moved and spoke and smelled.

By the time they were done eating, Lucy had stopped being even a little annoyed by their waitress. Natsu hadn't looked at her once since their appetizers were delivered. He was so focused on her, that the waitress had started to give her annoyed looks when she was unable to draw so much as a verbal response from him.

Natsu was just finishing up his second dessert when Lucy began to wonder how far she wanted to go in her seduction plan that evening. Initially, she'd only wanted to assess how interested he was, but now that she was certain that he _was_ interested, she wanted to go just a little further. She was nervous, though, about bringing it up. What if he wasn't _actually_ interested? He wasn't human, so perhaps he had different cues when he was interested than a man did. How could she find out, though, without outright asking? She didn't know if she could be forward enough for _that_.

Natsu wiped off his mouth with his napkin and then grabbed the bill. "Be right back," he said with a grin and headed towards the till.

_Step Ten: Pay for dinner._

He was pretty proud of himself. There were only two more steps to go and then he would have successfully finished their date. Natsu wondered how he could assess how well he'd done without outright asking Lucy. As he contemplated this, he made his way towards the till to settle their bill.

Lucy watched him as he walked away, noticing for the first time how many _other_ women in the restaurant were watching him as well. A table of four women near the front were outright pointing at him as they stared and whispered between themselves. One of them nodded in her direction, and when the others looked her way, Lucy could feel the murderous look that began to appear on her face. Much to her shock, two of the women gave her a thumbs up and the other two just mouthed _wow_ before they seemed to forget all about Natsu.

Once he had returned, Natsu gave her a big smile. "Are you ready to go or do you want to hang out for a bit?"

"I think I'm ready to go," Lucy said, a little sad that they were almost done.

He quickly grabbed her coat. "Let me help with that," he said as he held it out for her.

"Thank you," she said as she slid her arms into the sleeves and then did up the buttons.

Once they made it outside, Lucy slid her arm into Natsu's but he didn't start walking right away.

_Step Eleven: Offer to take her on a romantic walk in the park or along the river._

"Do you wanna head back?" he asked. "Or do you wanna take a walk first? I think there's a path down by the river. It's only a couple blocks away." Which he knew because he'd studied the town's map for almost an hour to make sure he wouldn't get lost.

Relieved that she'd have a little more time to figure out her plan, she quickly nodded. "That sounds great! I'm up for a walk, as long as you keep me warm again." Thankful that Natsu was as naive as he was, she hugged his arm to her a little more, which pushed her breasts a little further out of her jacket.

His eyes snapped down, but only stayed for a moment before he cleared his throat and then looked away to lead them across the street. It was a nice night, despite the cold, and with Natsu combating that with his own heat, Lucy felt herself relaxing as they strolled down the street. It was early enough there was still a lot of foot traffic heading towards the bars and restaurants, but they easily made their way through to the river. They cut through an alley before finding themselves at a small playground. Once they'd passed it, they moved onto the path and began to follow it.

"So I have a question," Natsu said. He wasn't sure if there was a better way to find out, but he decided to just ask Lucy.

"Ask away," she said as she laid her head against his shoulder.

"How did I do tonight? On our date?"

Lucy chuckled. "How do you think you did?"

"I think I did okay, but I've never done this before. I'd like to know if there's anything I need to improve on."

"Well, you ate a lot. That could be a turn off for some girls."

"Is it a turn off for…" _you?_ "Nevermind. I'll keep it in mind. Is there anything else?"

Lucy shook her head a little. "Honestly, I think you did great. You even ignored the waitress who was obviously into you and focused on your date instead. That's a huge ego boost for the date, seeing you so interested you even ignore other women in the room."

"So you… had a good time?"

"I did." She hugged herself closer to him. "Thank you, Natsu. I really did have a good time."

"I'm glad." He pulled them both to a stop, just under a rather large tree. "Actually, there's one more thing I have to do to complete the date. Can I do that and then ask you again?"

Not sure what to expect, Lucy stepped back to create some space between them. "Sure. Although I don't think whatever you're going to add is going to change my assessment all that much."

Natsu nodded and then took her hands in his as he turned to face her. He'd done his research. He'd watched clips of movies, he'd read articles, he'd even read through a particularly enlightening message board. He was positive he could do this right, even if everything he'd found said he should wait until a later date.

"I had a really great time," Natsu whispered as he pulled Lucy's hands up to his lips.

Lucy's entire body froze as she watched Natsu kiss the knuckles on both of her hands. _Surely he wouldn't_. He adjusted his grip so he was holding her hands in one of his and he raised his free hand towards her to softly grab onto her face. She felt her heartbeat increase exponentially, and as he pulled her face towards his, she wondered how on earth his eyes could shine like they were in the shadows of the tree. Lucy was helpless, unable to even form a thought as he smiled and brought their faces closer together. _Did he have the same thoughts as me? What is he going to do?_

_Step Twelve: Tell her you had a good time and kiss her good night._

"Lucy," he breathed as he took a step closer. Her hands landed on his chest as their bodies brushed together. His other hand moved to the other side of her face and carefully tilted her face to the side. Natsu took a moment to study her beautiful face, the way her lips were parted slightly, the way her eyes reflected the light from the stars, and the way her hands slowly curled into his shirt.

With another small smile, he lowered his head and rubbed his nose against hers.

"Lucy," he whispered again, and then he was kissing her.

* * *

**HAHAHAHAHAAA! The evil is real, and I have fallen in deep. Until next time!**


	43. Chapter 43

**HAHHAHAAHAHAAA! I felt pretty evil for cutting off that kiss scene, but I feel even **_**more**_ **evil now. I have to throw a wrench into the works, I just can't help myself. I am a **_**little**_ **sorry this time, though… a **_**little**_**.**

**This one gets a little intense in the beginning, but not so much so that I felt it warranted being put in its own separate story just yet. Heads up for the younger readers or readers not into that. I try to use fairly mild language, so hopefully it doesn't bother anyone too much.**

**As a heads up, I'll be taking a small break from this story. That itch I mentioned a while ago is back and relentless, so I'll be working on writing that for a little while. I worked on it today hoping it would scratch the itch enough, but after 12 pages I'm even more eager to get it written down. It'll be much shorter than this one, or even Surprise, so I shouldn't be busy for too long. I imagine it'll only take me a couple weeks, so you won't have to miss me long. And don't worry, I'll eventually share it with you all, as it will be another Fairy Tail AU!**

**Matcha-sama: I know it will be a while before you get this far, but I want to thank you for your review! I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, and I appreciate your words! It's truly humbling to have someone give my work such high praise, so I thank you very much for that. All I can say is to keep writing! When I go back and read my old work, I cringe a little, but you can only get better through practice, so keep putting pen to paper, or keep typing, whichever you prefer, and you'll get better with every word. Good luck!**

**As always, thank you everyone for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

For a long moment, all Lucy did was feel. Natsu's lips were soft and so gentle as they pressed against hers. He kissed her a few times, each time just as careful as the last, as though he was worried he might hurt her if he used too much pressure.

When he made a move to pull away, Lucy tightened her hold on his shirt and rose up on to her toes to kiss him back. He made a surprised noise as she pressed her lips against his, and she let out a quiet moan in response. His breathing changed and then so did his grip on her face. As his hands slid down to grab her head more firmly, he pulled away to take a breath before his lips came crashing down onto hers again. The kiss became more eager as their hands began to roam across the other's body. Lucy's hands moved up into his hair while his slid down her sides to grab onto her hips.

Lucy could feel Natsu's inexperience as he kissed her, so she made subtle adjustments to help him kiss her more fully, even pulling away once to whisper to him. When she eventually slid her tongue into his mouth, she expected the kiss to change, but was not prepared for his response.

He froze as her tongue ran slowly along his bottom lip and then sought out his own. When they both touched, he was in motion again. His hands gripped her hips, hard, and then yanked her legs up around his waist. With a few steps he had her pushed up against the nearest tree, allowing his hands to let go and freely explore her body.

He yanked his lips from her mouth and then latched on to her neck with both teeth and tongue. Lucy gasped loudly, unable to do anything more than just _feel_ as his hands yanked at her jacket while his mouth ravaged her. When her jacket was finally open, hot hands made their way up her sides until they grasped her breasts. Lucy groaned as his thumbs sought the straining peaks hidden by her dress.

Natsu was ferocious in his administrations, firm but still somehow gentle as he teased, tasted and touched every inch of her body he could reach. When his lips moved down her shoulder and towards her arm, Lucy forced her eyes open, desperate to watch him. When his eyes finally met hers again, Lucy felt disappointment creep along her skin. Natsu's eyes were glowing, a dim golden glow in the otherwise dark night. When his mouth returned to her neck, she had to fight to not shove him off of her.

When had he changed? When had he gone from the real Natsu to _this_ Natsu? Had the real Natsu kissed her at all?

Tears pricked at her eyes. Why was she so disappointed? In either form, this was Natsu, right? Or had everything just been _this_ Natsu? How was she supposed to know if the real Natsu liked her when this version kept coming out? Should it matter? She wanted to be with him, right? So what did it matter if it was his alter ego, or whatever?

Lucy found that she couldn't get herself to welcome Natsu's continued affection, so she raised her hands to his face and pulled it close to her own.

"Natsu," she said as she stopped him from kissing her again. "Natsu, can we stop?"

Natsu's hands stilled on her waist. Lucy slowly allowed her legs to slip down to support her weight again. When he continued to just stare at her, Lucy reached down and took his hands in hers. "What's going on in that silly head of yours?" she whispered.

Natsu began to blink as the color slowly drained from his eyes. When they'd finally faded entirely back to black, Lucy raised herself up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I think you did great tonight."

"I… huh?"

"Come on," she said as she wound her arm around his waist again. "Let's head home. I'd like to get out of these shoes."

"Okay?" Natsu put his arm around her shoulder and amped up the heat a little. As they began to walk again, he looked behind himself. When had they gotten over to the tree? Hadn't he kissed her on the path? And what had happened to her smell? There was something weird about it. When he glanced down, he saw marks on her neck that hadn't been there before. Had he done that?

A chill shot through his body. Had he gotten lost again? He had begun to notice a lot lately that he was losing time, but he didn't know why. Sometimes he'd be talking to Lucy, and then at some point later realize he was just sitting and staring at her as she did the dishes or cleaned up the apartment or something else. He had no idea why it happened or what he did during those stretches, but he hadn't worried _too_ much since he hadn't done anything but sit around.

What if he'd done something this time? Had Lucy noticed that he'd been weird? Did he even _act_ weird while he was like that? Clearly they'd moved this time, which he didn't remember doing before. Had he done something to Lucy? Was that why she was suddenly so eager to get home?

"Hey Lucy?"

"Yes Natsu?"

Natsu looked down at her, not sure how to ask, and suddenly not sure he wanted to know.

"Nevermind."

* * *

"Alright Happy, it's truth time, get in here!"

"Get in wh- _ahh!_" Lucy grabbed Happy by the tail and pulled him with her out of the kitchen and into her room. Natsu wasn't home, so she didn't bother closing the door, but she did stay next to it as she tossed the Exceed onto her bed.

He bounced a couple times before he finally righted himself. "What gives Lucy?! That hurt my tail…"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you get away without answering my questions today." After returning the night before, Natsu had only spoken to her for a little while before fleeing to his room with the excuse that he wanted to do some in depth research on Christmas.

"What questions?" he asked as he worked on fixing his fur.

"I need to know what's going on with Natsu."

Happy froze, one paw behind his ear. "Nothing's going on with Natsu. What are you talking about?"

"Oh please, Happy, we just talked about this yesterday. I know that when his eyes change color he's basically a different person. I need to know why, and what that alter ego of his is. He never seems to realize that he's lost any time, or remember anything he did or said during it. I know you know what's going on, and it's time you tell me what it is."

Happy frowned as he squirmed. "Lucy, that's a really bad idea…"

"I don't care," she said. "This is affecting my life, and I have every right to know what I'm getting myself into."

"Getting yourself into… what? What are you trying to get into?" Happy's ears shot up. "Does this have to do with the dress?!"

"Stop trying to change the subject! Natsu is a demon, and my roommate, and I want to know what is happening to him! Because right now, I'm not sure how safe it is to be around him while he's like that."

"You don't have anything to worry about," Happy said. "Other people might have to worry, but he'd never hurt you."

"Yeah, but _why?_" Lucy asked.

Happy's ears drooped again. "I… I don't want to tell you…"

"Why not, Happy? I put up with a lot from him sometimes, _and _you. Is whatever you won't tell me really so bad that I might change my views about him?"

"Well, maybe… that's why I don't want to tell you. I think it's too soon. And if I ruined things for Natsu, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

Lucy crossed her arms as she stared him down. Happy had never struck her as particularly manipulative, so as tears formed in his eyes and then seeped into his fur, she was fairly certain that what he said was true. However, she still wanted answers, and despite his concerns, she was fairly certain there was nothing that would make her change her mind about how she felt about Natsu.

Before she could press the issue though, Happy's ears shot up and his wings popped up to bring him into the air. "Natsu's home!"

"Happy, if you don't just answer me-"

The Exceed flew forward to put his hand over her mouth and then leaned in to whisper near her ear. "If I answer you, or if you tell him about the lapses, not only would it hurt him, it could potentially ruin him for the rest of his life. There are things he needs to figure out, and if he doesn't on his own, then he can kiss his carefree days goodbye. This is serious, Lucy. You have to trust me!"

"You're not giving me very good reasons to do so," she whispered back.

"Hey guys," Natsu called from the kitchen. "You here?"

"Please Lucy. Give it two months," he said as he pulled away. "In two months I will tell you what's going on if he hasn't figured it out on his own. Please, I'm begging you. _Please._ Just wait a little longer."

He shook his paws in front of him, practically ready to get down on his knees and beg. Seeing how sincere he was, Lucy was forced to concede. "Fine," she said then turned towards the hall. "We're back here, Natsu!"

Natsu joined them a moment later, with a slight frown. "What are you guys doing hiding back here?"

"Just talking," Lucy answered.

"Yeah, I was talking to her about the thing I have to go home for."

Natsu blinked rapidly at him. "What do you mean?"

"I told you about it a few days ago," Happy said. "I made plans with Carla, so I have to go back. I can come back for Christmas, though, so just summon me again before the party."

Outwardly, Natsu forced himself to appear cool, but inwardly he was panicking. He'd spoke the previous night to Happy about his concerns, and now the Exceed wanted to just _leave him_ alone with Lucy on his own? What if his lapses started getting longer or more intense? He was certain he'd done something to Lucy the previous night, but she hadn't said anything, and he didn't want to alert her if she hadn't noticed on her own.

He'd decided that the best solution was to spend as little time alone with her as possible, which should have been easy with a third roommate, but when that third roommate kept leaving, it was going to be more difficult than he thought.

"Happy, are you sure? It sounded like there were going to be a lot of prep work activities before the party, like making cookies and stuff. This might be our only chance to do any of those things! Do you really want to miss out?"

"Sorry buddy, but I already promised Carla I'd go back to help her out."

"What if we summoned her here?" Natsu said, sounding more desperate with each sentence.

"Sorry, but what we're doing we have to do over there."

Lucy squinted between the two as she listened. It was obvious that Natsu didn't want Happy to go, and she was pretty curious about why that was. "Sorry Natsu, but he already asked me," she said as she walked around him towards the living room. "We can handle everything before he gets back, so don't worry so much. We can take plenty of pictures if you like and he can see what he missed out on when he gets back."

"Yeah, what she said." Happy paused to float next to her. "How many days is it until Christmas?"

"Christmas is in… eleven days. Make sure you bring gifts when you come, though," she said with a special smile directed right at him. "I think I deserve something nice."

Happy's eyes darted towards Natsu and back again before he answered. "I'm sure I can put together something awesome, as long as I can find enough time."

"Good, I'm glad that's settled." Lucy leaned down, and with experience born from lots of practice, easily traced his summoning circle until it was nearly done.

"Need anything before I go?" Happy asked.

"I think I'm good," Lucy said with an innocent smile.

Natsu looked like he desperately wanted to argue but he just shook his head and said, "You have fun."

"Then I'll see you guys later!"

Lucy finished the last line and then waved until Happy popped out of existence. She ripped up the paper and then threw it in the trash before returning the original to its drawer. "Well, Natsu, what do you want to do today?"

He swallowed as he took tiny steps away. "Well, I was thinking about taking a nap, or, uh, doing some more research. I think I've got everything I need to know about Christmas, but I still need to do some more research for our next trip."

"Oh, well that's lame." Lucy stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "I was hoping you'd help me with the decorations."

"What decorations?"

"For Christmas. Remember? I told you about them last night."

"Oh yeah! Sorry, guess I forgot. Sure, I can help with that. Do we have to go get them?"

"Nope." Lucy started making her way down towards the hall. "I have a big binful in the closet in your room." Lucy made her way passed the small pile of food bags and empty bins stacked up in his room to open up the closet doors. Since Natsu just magicked all his clothes, he didn't need to use the space so everything was exactly where she had left it. She pulled a couple boxes out of the way and then pulled out a large bin near the bottom. "We'll need this," she said as she handed it his way. "Aaaand…" She grabbed the bigger tote off the floor. "This one. This is the tree."

"You keep a tree in a box? How does it not die?"

"It's a fake tree," Lucy said as she drug it out of the room. "Real trees are a pain to maintain and clean up after the holidays are over, so I got a fake one. I had to get a skinny tree, since Plue liked to climb the first one I had. That made a heck of a mess, so I switched out last year for this one. Plus it's already got lights attached!" After she set down the tote in middle of her living room, she took the one he was carrying. "We won't need this one for a while, so let's leave it over here."

"You're the boss," Natu said as he moved out of her way.

Lucy turned back, opened the bin and pulled out the first piece. "So all you have to do is pull the branches down, like this, and then fluff out the branches, like this, see?"

Natsu watched her for a while before she handed the bottom portion to him. "So like… this?"

"Yeah, just like that. This one only has three pieces, so we just have to fluff them, stack them on the stand and hook the lights up together and then we're done! At least with that part. Then we have to put up the ornaments."

When Lucy bent over to retrieve another piece, Natsu spun around and focused on his piece. She was wearing a large flannel shirt over some tights, but Natsu had clearly seen the outline of her butt. As he worked on focusing on his task, he asked Lucy if she knew any of the Christmas stories well enough to tell him one.

"Of course I do," she said with a laugh. "I watched them every year, so it'd be pretty pathetic of me if I couldn't remember them. Which one do you want to hear?"

"Do you know the one about Rudolph?"

"Of course." By this time, Natsu had turned mostly back in her direction so he was able to see the smile on her face. "There's a song, too, do you want to hear it? Actually, I could see if I can find something online that will read to us while we work. How does that sound?"

He shrugged. "Whichever you would prefer is fine with me."

"I'll find something, just hold on." Lucy set down her portion of the tree and then moved towards the desk to pick up her phone.

Natsu focused on his work instead of the way Lucy was leaning against her desk or the way her hair was falling out of the messy ponytail she'd put it in.

_Just focus on your work_. _Whatever is happening with Lucy seems to happen when you're focusing too much on her, so just keep your mind on other things. You can do it, you just gotta keep your mind on your task._

"Found one!" Lucy cheered, then set her phone back down. As the story started, she adjusted the volume so it would be loud enough before returning to finish up her part of the tree. The video she'd found started with the song, and Natsu found that he wasn't able to completely avoid watching her as she sang along to the music.

When he realized some time later that he'd zoned out again and missed the beginning of the story, he was forced to admit that his current task was going to be more difficult than he'd initially thought.

"How about we take a quick break?" Lucy asked as she set the last section of the tree down on the floor, completely fluffed and ready to be put together. "We can have some hot cider!"

"That sounds great," Natsu said, causing Lucy to smile widely at him and head for the kitchen. As he sighed and put down his mostly unfinished piece, he wondered if perhaps he was just finally going crazy. He'd been a mostly sane half demon for decades now, so perhaps it was just time for him to lose himself for a little while. A lot of demons seemed to lose their minds after they were alive long enough, perhaps it was just his time. As he joined Lucy in the kitchen, he fervently hoped that whatever was happening fixed itself soon. He only had so much time to spend with Lucy in her world, and he would rather not keep losing chunks of it.

When he once again lost time between her turning on the stove and handing him a hot mug, he realized that it might be too hard for him to handle.

_Damn it, Happy_, he thought. _Why did you have to leave me here alone?_

* * *

**For those of you wondering, the project I'll be working on for the next little while will be an AU centered around Lucy, who runs a rehabilitation center for sick and injured magical creatures. One day, a very sick drake shows up, and in the process of trying to fix him, she's going to spend a lot of time remembering an old friend that the drake reminds her an awful lot of. So far my cast list includes: Lucy, the zodiac, Levy, Gajeel, Freed, Mira, a few of the Twelve and Zeref, of course Natsu, and more than likely a few others. **

**I'm pretty excited, and I hope you all can hold out for my return! Like I said, it won't be too long, and I will look forward to getting back to this story every day!**

**Happy reading guys!**


	44. Chapter 44

**I'm baaaaaaack!**

**I have the other fic mostly written up, fortyish pages later… there are five or six scenes left to write, but I need to clean up the stuff that's done before I can write the heart to heart I made it to, and I have an outline for the rest of it, so it's done enough for now. It'll be quite a while before I post it, so don't get too pumped about seeing it. I won't return to it until this one has been completed.**

**Savwafair- I promise, that isn't what's going to happen. **

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"So what are we doing again?" Natsu asked as he dodged yet another shopper. Honestly, was he not big enough for them to see him? Or were they just aiming for him?

"We're shopping for gifts," Lucy said. She leaned over the counter in front of her to look at some necklaces in the back of the display. "A big part of Christmas, or at least what Christmas has become, is to give gifts to loved ones."

"Is that why are there so many people here?" Natsu moved from where he'd been trying to stay out of the way between two displays to stand next to her instead.

"Yep. Christmas is the largest shopping holiday of the year, so stores are crazy busy during December. You missed out on Black Friday, since we were in Aspen, but that's the worst day of them all. Every store has crazy sales, so people usually line up well before the store is open so they can get the best deals. This is honestly nothing compared to that."

"Really? This is already pretty crazy."

"Yep. I remember years ago, before stores figured out better ways to run things, people died getting trampled by the masses as they entered the store. People get really crazy when the deals are right."

Natsu gave her a look that clearly showed he wasn't sure if he should believe her or not. "That sounds insane."

Lucy nodded. "It is. As far as I'm concerned, no deal is worth getting hurt or killed over."

"Does that mean you've never done a Black Friday before?" Natsu asked.

"Oh I have, a long time ago, but that was before they began starting it on Thanksgiving and people started stabbing people in the parking lots to steal their cheap TVs. I'm not that hungry for a deal.

"I also don't agree with their starting it on Thanksgiving, a day where we're supposed to be thankful for what we have and spend time with our family, not stand in line away from our families to get more _things_. Not that I don't like things," she said as she picked up a boxed necklace with three book charms hanging from it. "I just think it's a little contradictory. What do you think of this one?" she asked as she showed it to him. "I think Levy would like it."

He nodded. "I think she would, too."

"Alright, then I just have Loke left." She stuck the necklace in her basket and turned away from the jewelry counter. "I don't think I'm going to find anything here, though. I have a few ideas, but this isn't the place to shop for him."

"Does that mean we're done here then?"

"Yep, all done," she said with a smile.

Natsu was careful to not express how grateful he was that they were done. Shopping for food wasn't terrible, but he could go the rest of his life without shopping for Christmas ever again.

"Oh shoot," Lucy said with a snap of her fingers. "I just realized I have one other person to shop for."

"Who?" he asked, dreading their trip being extended.

"You of course," she said with a smile as she led them towards the front.

The warm feeling in his chest was immediately followed by the realization that he should probably get her something, too. As he looked at the crowd around him, his only thought was, _Shit…_

"I can't find you anything while you're here, though, so I'll probably be home late some time this week."

"You really don't have to get me anything, Lucy. Honestly, I'm contracted to you. There is no obligation to get me any gifts."

"But I want to," she said as she pulled him into one of the long check out lines. "You're my friend, and I can't in good conscious go through the holiday without getting you something, can I? I didn't skip anyone else I care about."

That warm feeling in Natsu's chest oozed throughout his whole body as she looked up at him with her warm smile.

Lucy barely managed to hold herself steady as Natsu's eyes flashed gold. Panic immediately set in as she glanced at the crowd around them. This was a terrible time for Natsu to lose himself. Happy had warned her that no one else was safe while he was in his altered state, and she couldn't risk someone bumping him or, probably more important, into _her._

Natsu raised his hands to her face as he leaned down and rubbed his nose in her hair and started to purr. Lucy lifted her hands to carefully extract his as she whispered to him. "Hey Natsu, how about we wait until we get home for you to do that, okay?" The purring seemed to grow louder as he fought her hold. "I just think this isn't the place for this kind of thing, okay?"

As he continued to fight her, she noticed that a man standing behind them had noticed her struggle. She prayed he was the type to just turn around and pretend he hadn't seen anything, but as Natsu took a step closer, the man frowned and grabbed onto his shoulder. "Hey man-"

Natsu immediately whipped around and growled at the man, his teeth fully exposed as he glared. In only a second, he'd stepped away from her and lifted his arm to swing at the man.

"Natsu!"

Another arm intercepted the swing, and Natsu turned his glare on the new arrival. Stier's mouth was in a thin line as he stared at Natsu. He lifted his free hand to squeeze at the base of Natsu's neck as he began to speak to him in a low voice.

Lucy wanted to intervene, but since Natsu hadn't acted aggressively towards Stier, she turned her attention to her would-be savior. The other man continued to stare wide eyed at the pair as Stier tried to talk Natsu down. Lucy moved forward to reassure him. "It's okay, really. He just gets a little possessive. I'm sorry about that."

The man just looked at her like she was crazy and then left to find a different line. There was another person behind them, but the woman was reading something on her phone and didn't seem to be paying any attention to them.

Natsu took a step back and bumped into Lucy. He blinked down at her and then up at Stier. Lucy noticed with relief that his eyes had returned to their normal color, and then immediately wondered what Stier had done to calm him down. "When did you get here?" Natsu asked.

Stier smiled. "I've been in line for a little while. I just noticed Lucy standing over here and was going to say hi."

The demon stared at the other man for a while before he turned Lucy's way and studied her. He looked from the top of her head to her feet, as though he was making sure she was okay, before he turned back to Stier. "I don't think that's a good idea," Natsu said as he crossed his arms and moved to stand in front of Lucy. "You hurt Lucy's feelings, and as far as I've heard, you never bothered to apologize."

Stier ducked his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I know. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings, okay? I just didn't think it was a good idea for us to see each other like that anymore."

"Why?" Lucy asked as she stepped around Natsu. "Why did you decide you didn't want to see me again? I thought we had a good time."

"We did, don't get me wrong, and you're amazing, I just… have some commitment issues." Stier glanced at Natsu before meeting Lucy's gaze. "I would love to be friends and hang out again, I just don't think we should date. It wouldn't end well, for either of us probably," he muttered, loud enough for only Natsu to hear. "I am really sorry I cut our date off like I did. I owe you an apology for that, and I am _really_ sorry. I was going to visit FairyTail and apologize, but you weren't there two nights ago when I stopped by."

Lucy nodded as she listened to Stier's apology and explanation. His words sounded sincere, so she decided to believe him. She held out her hand, which he shook, and gave him a smile. "I forgive you. And you're probably right- I have a feeling we would have figured out we were too different to work well together eventually."

Stier grinned as he released her hand and moved forward to put his basket on the line. "Thanks Lucy, I owe you."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Lucy said, "but if you wanna pay me back, you can come join us some Friday and buy me a beer."

Stier pointed her way. "I can do that."

As Lucy began to unload her basket, Stier gave her a little wave and turned to do the same. Natsu looked between the two a few times, and instead of letting it go, he asked Lucy, "Are you sure?"

"Sure about what?" she asked.

"Sure about him." Natsu glanced across the shelves at the other man before lowering his head and voice. "You were pretty upset. For all you know, he might stand you up again. If he upsets you again, I'll have to kick his ass."

"No you won't," Lucy said as firmly as she could. "I'll have you know that before you showed up, I dated and made friends and decided who I would and wouldn't spend my time with all on my own without a demon intervening all the time. I can do it now, too. Besides," she added as she looked Stier's way again, "I get the feeling he's not that kind of guy."

Natsu grumbled to himself but didn't argue.

He owed Leo that much.

* * *

"Welcome Lucy, Natsu. Would you like your usual table?" Aries asked.

"Yes, thank you," Lucy said as the hostess grabbed them menus and led them across the restaurant. She looked around the entire space but was unable to see Loke anywhere. As they sat down, Lucy spoke to Aries before she could leave. "Aries, is Loke here? I don't see him anywhere."

Aries began to fiddle with her name tag as she answered. "I'm so sorry! Loke took some personal time off and won't be back for a little while. You can speak to our interim manager if you like- she might have more information."

Lucy's shoulders dropped. "I didn't know Loke was going to be taking time off… why didn't he tell me?" She looked up again. "I would like to speak to whoever is running things, if they have time."

Aries nodded. "I'll let her know as soon as I can. I'm really sorry."

Lucy smiled and waved away her concerns. "It's really okay, I'm just surprised he didn't mention anything to me before he left. Thank you Aries."

Aries nodded again before she scurried away. Lucy watched her leave and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"Aries is lying to me."

He swallowed and lifted his menu a little. "Why do you say that?"

"I can tell by the way she was getting nervous," Lucy responded as she pushed her menu to the side.

"She always gets nervous when we talk to her," Natsu pointed out.

"It was different this time."

He cleared his throat. "Well, perhaps she's just not allowed to tell us what he's up to."

"The question is why." Lucy sighed as she sat back in her seat. Before she could continue, the waiter arrived.

"Good evening folks," he said with a smile directed Lucy's way.

"Bickslow! I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing back in town?"

"Just back for a little bit while I'm on break," he answered as he leaned against their booth. He had the same black and blue hair hair she remembered, slicked back to be more presentable for his job, and his physical build was the same as she remembered. "Loke gave me an open invitation to work here whenever I'm around, so I came by when I got into town this morning and got a short shift for tonight."

"So school is going well?"

"Oh yeah, it's going great."

Natsu squinted a little as he watched them. They were obviously comfortable with each other, and the way they spoke made him a little jealous, although he couldn't figure out why. She was just as comfortable with him, right? As well as Cana, Levy, and Juvia, not to mention Loke. So why did it bother him so much that she was so familiar with this lumux? And why was he getting so close to her?

"So how long are you going to be in town?" Lucy asked.

"Until the second of January. I have both Christmas and New Years off this year."

"That's great!" Lucy said. "Do you have plans for Christmas? Most of the gang won't be in town, but I have a couple other friends I'm inviting over for a party. You could join us if you want."

Natsu sat forward. "Uh, I don't think-"

"Nah, I'm good, but thanks for the invite. Parents are going away and I'll be heading out with them."

"Oh, bummer. When are you leaving?"

"Next week, so I'll be at FairyTail this Friday night."

"That's great!" Lucy reached out to grab his arm. "Everyone will be so excited to see you!"

"I'm really excited to see them too," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "What do you say we do lunch sometime while I'm in town? It's been a long time since we've hung out."

Lucy tried, she really did, to get away from Bickslow's touch. Not that she minded, she rarely minded being touched by her friends, but with Natsu sitting right there, she knew it was a bad idea.

She didn't do it fast enough, though, and Lucy felt dread immediately coil through her as Natsu's eyes flashed gold and he began to rise. Before he could act, another person showed up.

"Bickslow, what are you doing?"

Lucy looked up as a woman in a black and white pantsuit stepped up between Natsu and Bickslow. Her short pink hair was slicked back and she had the most neutral expression Lucy had ever seen on a person's face.

"Sorry ma'am. I was just saying hi to a friend."

"And getting their drink orders, I'm sure."

"Of course," he said, looking a little comfortable.

"Strawberry lemonade and Dr. Pepper," Lucy whispered.

"I'll be back with your drinks shortly," he said with a grateful smile before he quickly moved off.

As he walked away, Lucy glanced at Natsu and saw that he was blinking furiously as he sat back down and avoided looking at anyone. Lucy looked back up as the other woman looked away from Bickslow's retreating back to make eye contact with her.

"Aries told me that you were looking for me." She held out her hand. "My name is Manda. I'll be standing in for Loke while he's away. Is there something I can do for you?"

Lucy was caught off guard for a moment but recovered quickly. "I was just wondering where Loke had gone. I'm a friend of his-"

"As it is Monday, I assume you're Lucy." She glanced over at Natsu. "And he's your bottomless pit of a roommate, Natsu."

Natsu frowned. "I'm not a bottomless pit."

"Yes, we're Lucy and Natsu." Lucy gave Natsu a slight look before turning her attention back to the woman. "It's nice to meet you, Manda. Do you know where Loke went?"

"Of course."

"Oh!" After Aries avoidance, Lucy had expected this woman to pretend she didn't know either. "Can you tell me where he is?"

"No, I can't," the woman said. "I apologize, but it's not my place to share Loke's plans with anyone, even a friend. I would suggest trying to get in touch with him and ask him yourself."

Natsu glared at Virgo as she lied to his master. He was walking on thin ice, he knew it, and if Lucy suspected for even a moment that he might know what was going on with Leo, he would either have to refuse to tell her, which would upset her, or lie, which he wasn't comfortable doing.

"Oh, I see." Lucy hung her head a little and stared at the tabletop in front of her. "Thanks anyway."

"I'll make sure your drinks arrive promptly and that you are well taken care of this evening," Virgo said as she bowed slightly. "Have a good evening and please let me know if you need help with anything else."

As she left, Natsu felt terrible. Lucy was obviously upset thinking that one of her close friends had willingly gone off without telling her that he was leaving. He wasn't sure what to do to fix it, but he wasn't about to give up without a fight.

"Hey, Luce, don't look so down. If he didn't tell you what was going on, I'm sure he had a good reason. Maybe he had a family emergency or something and just didn't have time to let everyone know where he was going. I'm sure he'll be back soon with an explanation." Natsu hoped, anyway. He wanted to know what was happening, too.

Lucy slowly nodded. "You're right. I'm sure everything will be okay, I'm just worried, that's all."

"Well I don't think I like that." Natsu snapped his fingers. "How about we watch some of those Christmas movies tonight that you've been raving about? If they're as great as you say, I don't think they should be confined to being watched just one night a year. What do you say?"

Lucy smiled at Natsu as she agreed. She appreciated what he was doing, and she didn't want to ignore the effort he was putting in to making her feel better. He was right after all- Loke wouldn't just disappear for no reason if something bad hadn't happened. So Lucy resolved to focusing on her time with Natsu. It had been a very long time since she'd had anyone join her for her holiday traditions, so she didn't want to waste one moment.

As Bickslow returned with their drinks and to take their orders, Lucy remembered what had happened prior to Manda's intervention. As Natsu ordered his food, and rebuffed Bickslow's ribbing about his appetite, Lucy had to work on forcing down the fear that crawled up her back.

She had agreed to give Natsu a couple months before demanding that Happy tell her what was going on, but now that Natsu had started lashing out at others, she couldn't wait anymore.

It was for the safety of everyone around her that she get to the bottom of Natsu's split personality, once and for all.

* * *

As Happy popped into existence, Lucy quickly grabbed him and pulled him into her hiding spot.

"Oof!" Happy pulled her hand off his mouth as he looked around the alley Lucy had summoned him. "Lucy, what are we doing here? I thought you weren't going to summon me again until Christmas."

"That was until Natsu nearly punched a stranger and attacked a friend." She got a firm grip on Happy's tail before she removed her arms so he could sit somewhat comfortably on her lap.

"I need to know what's going on with Natsu, _now._ So talk."

* * *

**Manda means Battle Maiden, which isn't what I was initially looking for, but I loved that meaning too much to find another name for our favorite punishment seeking spirit.**


	45. Chapter 45

**I decided to play nice today. We'll see how I'm feeling next time.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"How's this, Luce?"

Lucy looked up from her cookbook to check out his dough. "That's much better," she said. "Now you just take the cookie cutters and press them down into the dough. Start on an edge and keep them as close together as you can so you can get as many cookies out of it as possible."

"Got it!" Natsu pulled the box of cookie cutters closer and began to rifle through it as Lucy went back to her own batch of cookies. As she read her recipe, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to the conversation she'd had the previous day with Happy.

"_So I'm… what again?"_

"_His mate," Happy said. "Any being with dragon blood- from what I've seen, at least a quarter dragon anyway- has one perfect mate, and you're Natsu's."_

"_That's crazy," Lucy argued. "I'm a human. I'm biologically incompatible, and my lifespan is, like, a sneeze compared to his."_

"_Demons and dragons don't live _that _long," Happy corrected._

"_It doesn't matter, Happy, I can't be."_

"_You are, though." The Exceed crossed his arms. "I even asked Grandeeney about it. You're his mate, and while his inner dragon has figured it out, the rest of him still needs to catch up. On. His. Own." He'd then gone on to tell her about some ice dragon hybrid that had basically gone crazy after he was told his mate was the person he hated most of all._

"_Yeah, but Happy, he didn't like his mate. Natsu _does _like me, at least as a friend."_

"_He could have learned to like her, if given the proper chance, and things could have been better, but he was rushed and refused to accept her, like you're refusing to accept what I'm saying. I don't want to risk it with Natsu. I won't."_

Lucy watched Natsu for a moment while she mixed up her ingredients. He was bent at the waist, carefully situating the cutters on his dough and then pushing them in with a grin. He could be so happy about such little things like that, she wondered how on earth she was supposed to be compatible with someone like him. Maybe it was because she had grown up with money, because even though she knew that it couldn't buy her happiness, she didn't think she'd ever been so happy over something so small. Perhaps when her mother had been alive and she'd been young, but not anymore.

Not only that, she was having trouble accepting being a dragon's mate. What kind of crap was that anyway, fate choosing a mate for her? Not that her being Natsu's mate necessarily meant he had to end up with her, but there was an obligation there that she wasn't sure she could shake. Even if she wasn't a dragon herself, she could understand the kind of pain that would accompany not spending your life, or in their case _her_ life, together when they were 'meant to be.' She didn't think that was a healthy start to a relationship, and she _definitely_ didn't like the idea of her fate being decided for her like that.

Not to mention she _still_ wasn't sure if Natsu's conscious self liked her. Obviously, his subconscious did, since it was in some deep bonded level of love with her, but how did the rest of him feel? Was it just a friendly feeling, or did he perhaps have real feelings for her? Now that she knew Happy had instructed Natsu that a good night kiss was customary after a date, she had no way of knowing if he'd done it because it was what he thought he _should_ do or if he _wanted_ to.

On and on her thoughts bounced around while the pair baked cookies together. Natsu had a blast making the shapes, but once he found out that he got to decorate them after they cooled, he'd scared Plue with how much noise he made. Lucy had laughed with him as they planned out some of the cookies they would decorate together, and for a while, Lucy allowed herself to forget about her troubles.

Of course, it couldn't last, and by the time she got ready for bed, she was ready to pop. Over twenty four hours, and she knew if she didn't talk to someone, or _do_ something about it soon, she was going to start pulling her hair out.

With that in mind, Lucy put on her most comfortable, and most revealing, tank top and shorts combo and once she'd finished brushing her teeth, went to Natsu's bedroom.

She was antsy, desperate for answers, but she was also extremely nervous, so she found herself standing outside his door for a few minutes before she finally knocked.

He told her to enter almost before her fist met the door, so, after a quick deep breath for courage, she opened it.

"What's up, Luce?" he asked, her computer open in his lap. He was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and his back against his bed.

"I just… wanted to talk to you for a bit before I went to bed."

"Oh!" Natsu clicked a few things on the laptop and then set it aside before looking up at her. "What did you… want… to…"

Lucy kept a close eye on Natsu's face. His eyes remained their dark, black color but he was clearly interested in what he could see. This gave her a little more courage as she moved forward to kneel next to him. "I had a question, actually."

His eyes never left her body as he nodded, obviously waiting for her to continue.

"I, um, I wanted to ask about our date."

"What about it?" he asked as he finally looked up at her face. His eyes were lighter around the edges, but they hadn't completely changed. Perhaps he was fighting it?

"Well, at the end of it you kissed me. I was just curious… why you did that."

"Was I not supposed to?" Natsu looked stricken, like he had committed some grave sin. "I'm sorry if it wasn't okay. I just… I thought that I…"

Lucy smiled and grabbed his closest hand. "It's okay," she reassured him. "I wasn't saying you weren't supposed to I just wanted to know… why you did it." Did he feel like he was obligated or did he _want_ to?

Natsu looked away, a blush clearly beginning to bloom across his cheeks. "Well, I… I was following a cheat sheet of sorts. I wanted to make sure I did everything right so I did some research and… that was the last thing."

"Oh." Lucy couldn't keep her disappointment out of her voice, or keep her shoulders from slumping at his admission. "So you did it because you thought you were supposed to, then."

"Well, I mean, _yes_, but also no." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I also… did it because I wanted to. I've never done it before, you know, and I was curious. And because I like you, of course."

"You like me?" Lucy asked, still skeptical. "As in, you like me or you _like_ me?"

Natsu's mouth opened and shut several times, like a fish, before he finally sighed. "I don't know what that means."

Lucy studied him for a while as he in turn studied her. Eventually, Lucy scooted closer. "Can I try something?" she asked.

"Sure," he said immediately. "What do I need to do?"

"Just stay there," she answered, "and… focus on me, okay? Try not to let your mind wander."

Natsu frowned, unsure if she meant the way he worried that she did, but before he could ask, she was leaning forward and grabbing him by his face. Once he realized what she meant to do, he forced his eyes open wide and desperately tried to focus on her.

He didn't want to miss kissing her again. Natsu was certain they had kissed in the park, but he'd lost himself almost immediately after their lips touched and he would be even more damned than he already was before he missed out on that experience again.

Lucy found that her courage began to leave her as she met his gaze, so she closed her eyes as she leaned forward. At the last moment, she adjusted course and kissed his cheek instead. She peppered his cheek with kisses as she built up her courage before making her way to his mouth, where she pressed her lips firmly against his.

Natsu felt himself fading, but desperately fought to keep himself aware. Lucy had stopped, their lips pressed tightly together. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, but he didn't have long to think about it before his hands responded on their own and settled on her sides, just above her hips. They squeezed her a little as they pulled her closer.

Lucy was surprised by his action, but she allowed herself to be guided forward. One of her legs ended up between his as she settled her weight just above his knee. His hands continued to slide up and down her body as he took the lead and began to kiss her.

Natsu couldn't quite understand what was happening. He knew that Lucy was okay with that he was doing, but he didn't know why he was doing it; his body seemed to be acting on its own.

Meanwhile, Lucy was torn between being happy that they were kissing and worried that she was once again being held by Natsu's other personality- his inner dragon, as she'd decided to refer to it. She knew she could answer the question if she just opened her eyes, but she didn't want to. Natsu was acting different from the first time. He was being more considerate, moving slower and savoring, rather than attacking her mouth like before, and she wanted to savor that.

Lucy's arms wound around his neck as she pressed herself against his chest. She hadn't planned on getting so close, but there was a part of her that wanted _more_ with him and it was holding the reins right now. Natsu groaned a little as their bodies pressed together, and Lucy found she couldn't stop herself from finding out just which Natsu she was kissing.

She tugged on his bottom lip with her teeth as she pulled away and opened her eyes. They were both breathing heavily, their arms wound around each other, and as Lucy tried to sit back, his arms tightened around her. To Lucy's surprise, Natsu's eyes seemed to be swirling, a mix of his usual black and occasional gold, instead of one or the other. She couldn't quite read his expression, but she thought she saw a combination of lust and confusion, although she couldn't be sure.

Natsu was hanging on by his teeth as Lucy pulled away. He wanted to pull away too, to take a moment and breathe, but he couldn't get his arms to let her go. Worse, they tightened around her, refusing to let her move more than a few inches.

"So… did you like that?" Lucy asked after a long, silent moment.

He couldn't find words, couldn't seem to convince his mouth to open, let alone speak, so Natsu merely nodded. And then he was pulling her close again to claim her mouth once more.

By the time he convinced himself to pull away and regained control of his body, he had spread Lucy out on the floor and pressed himself against her, with her legs wrapped up in his.

Natsu pulled himself up onto his knees as he finally managed to wrangle his body back under control. Lucy was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling and nearly driving him crazy with how hard it was to look away. With her shirt riding up and exposing even more of her skin to his eyes, he was surprised that he didn't combust right then and there.

"I don't think I understand what it was you were trying," Natsu said, when he was finally able to make words again. Talking was good. Talking was a distraction, which he desperately needed.

"I just wanted to know if you liked doing that, or if you only did it because you thought you were supposed to."

"I think it's safe to say that I liked doing it," he said as he forced himself to pull away and sit on the floor again. Lucy fixed her shirt before she did the same.

She began to fiddle with her nails as she spoke again. "So did you… like the kissing because kissing is fun or did you like it because… it was… me?" Lucy couldn't bring herself to look at Natsu as she asked. She was _far_ too embarrassed.

Natsu stared at the top of Lucy's head as she spoke, unsure how he could have given her the impression that the former was true. Did human men have no control? Did they get that excited kissing just _any_ woman they encountered? He wasn't even sure he could _pretend_ to enjoy such a thing with just anyone.

"I… I'm pretty sure it was you," he said as he also studied his hands.

Lucy licked her lips as she glanced at him through her lashes. "Do you think… if you did like doing that with me… do you think that maybe… you and I… could… try other things?"

She saw Natsu's eyes bulge out of his face as his head whipped up in her direction. "What do you mean 'other things'?"

"Well, I don't know if it's a thing demons or dragons do, but… you know, maybe while you're here, we could… date. Or, you know, do things that… dating people… do…"

"Do we not already do that?" Natsu asked. "We spend time together all the time. We watch movies together, we've even gone on a date before. I think us eating out the other times together could even be considered dates, if we wanted to."

"That's not what I meant," Lucy said. Embarrassment filled her to the point that she wasn't sure she could finish her thought. Apparently her 'I'm an adult and can have sex without getting attached' talk hadn't prepped her for the part where she _asked_ for that particular arrangement. Perhaps it was because it was Natsu, or the fact that despite her constant reassurances, she did like him just a little, but she didn't think she could follow through with a friends with benefits thing. Not if she was having this much trouble just _talking _about it.

"Nevermind." Lucy quickly stood up and made a move to leave. "It's nothing, nevermind. I just… nevermind."

"Wait, Lucy-"

"It's okay, nothing is wrong, I just…" Lucy's hands fluttered in front of her as she tried to find something, anything, to say. "Nevermind. Good night, Natsu." With that, she left and shut the door behind her.

Natsu remained still as he listened to her curse under her breath outside his door for a few seconds and then head towards her own room. He heard her shut her door and then groan as she fell onto her bed.

"_Plue, I'm going crazy. Why can't I just get the words out? Am I not ready for this? He must be, right? He'd said it himself, demons will do just about anyone!"_

Natsu's eyes snapped open as he finally understood what she'd been trying to say.

_Oh…_


	46. Chapter 46

**Did someone say update?**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!**

* * *

It had been two days.

Two days of avoiding any sort of meaningful conversation.

Two days of avoiding eye contact.

Two days of waiting for something to give.

Lucy was making herself a snack after work and she couldn't seem to think about anything else than what had driven her to kiss Natsu. After their awkward conversation, she had decided she was going to forget the whole thing and pretend it never happened, but Natsu had been acting weird as well, making her wonder if he _had_ figured out what she'd been trying to get at. The fact that Happy still wasn't with them made the quiet of the apartment that much more oppressive.

It was driving Lucy crazy.

She'd gone out the previous afternoon to do some shopping, and even though she hadn't found anything, she had refused to return until bedtime. Not that it mattered, since Natsu had apparently holed himself up in his room with no intention of leaving for anything but food or to use the bathroom.

Once Lucy was done, she put away her ingredients and grabbed a spoon to eat her ice cream with. As she left, she didn't bother to watch where she was going, so she nearly ran into Natsu as he was rounding the corner to enter the kitchen.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he said as he moved out of her way.

"No, it's my fault," she said as she moved in the opposite direction. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Really, I should have been paying better attention. I don't want to make you drop your food."

"It's okay, really. There's always more."

Natsu nodded and then made his way into the kitchen, still not looking her way. Lucy kept her eyes down as well as she continued to head for her bedroom.

She was halfway down the hall when she suddenly stopped. With a huff, she turned around and retraced her path.

This was ridiculous. They were supposed to be working together, per their contract, plus they were friends and roommates. There shouldn't be such an uncomfortable bubble between them, and since she'd created the damn thing, it was her responsibility to pop it.

"Hey, Natsu?"

The half dragon jumped as she entered the room, causing the box in his hand to fall onto the counter. "Geez, Luce, you scared me!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"You can be awfully quiet when you want to be," he said as he began to clean up his mess.

"Sorry," she said again. She set her bowl on the counter and wrapped her arms around herself. "Do you mind if we talk?"

"Sure, yeah. What do you want to talk about?" He continued to pour his bowl of cereal, using the excuse of his task to continue to look away from her.

"It's about two nights ago."

Natsu jerked, causing the box in his hand to fall again. He sighed as the cereal once more scattered across the counter. "What about it?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I obviously crossed a line, and I shouldn't have pushed like I did. I'm really sorry."

Natsu blinked several times and then half turned her way. "What line do you think you crossed?"

"I shouldn't have kissed you. It's obvious that it put a strain on our friendship and that's the last thing I wanted. I can't take it back, but we could pretend it didn't happen. I just hate how the last couple days have been and I want to fix it."

_She doesn't know I know_.

Natsu had to admit, he had been acting strange the last couple days, but it was only because he still wasn't sure what to say to Lucy. Having heard what she told Plue, their physical relationship had been the only thing he'd been able to think about since. He was still terrified of his lapses in awareness and worried that he was doing things he shouldn't do, but wasn't sure who to talk to about it. Loke was an option, but since he was still unavailable, Natus couldn't talk to him just yet.

He wanted more than anything to kiss Lucy again, even if he had to fight with that other side of him to stay aware. The taste of her lips was the single greatest thing his tongue had ever had the fortune of tasting. Even now, he was affected thinking about her hands on his face, and her soft lips pressed against his. It made his body hot in ways that fire never could, and created a desire in his belly for more of her.

But what would that more be? He'd seen things in his realms, other demons and dragons doing things with each other and other races that made him feel queasy. Things he couldn't imagine doing to Lucy. Dragons in heat could be unpredictable, and demons were worse if they lost control of themselves. He had trouble keeping himself present just kissing her- he wasn't sure how difficult it would be to maintain control if he were to try doing more, even if it was what Lucy wanted.

The big question was why. Why did Lucy want to do those things with him? Was it a desire to be with a mythic being, or did she have feelings for him in some way? He'd long ago accepted the fact that he cared about her, more than he had for any other being besides Happy and Igneel. It didn't matter that it had only been a few months, he knew for a fact that he would not be terminating his contract early for any reason, and he wouldn't be taking any of her memories before he left. He wanted to see her again, come visit her again as often as possible, after their contract ended. How did Lucy feel, though?

And he still had no idea what was going on with this inner presence that had suddenly shown up. The more he blacked out, the more he began to feel that other presence, and the more he thought he might be able to control it, or at least keep a hold on himself when it tried to take over. He'd managed it the night Lucy kissed him, and after that experience, he had become certain of at least one thing- the inner presence desperately wanted Lucy.

It wanted to have her in any way it could. It wanted to hold her, kiss her, make love to her- pull her in and never let her go. It wanted to bask in her presence and absorb the warmth that only Lucy was able to provide.

Natsu could admit that there was a part of him, the conscious part, that wanted that, too. It had surprised him when he figured out how many of his inner personality's desires matched his own, especially when he'd never been interested in that kind of thing before. He'd been propositioned by various other races, succubi, even dragons before, but none had ever made him want to perform those acts until Lucy.

Still, until he could discern her reasons for wanting such things, he wasn't sure he could follow through on those desires. They were friends and roommates, so they obviously cared about each other, which meant they needed to be careful about possibly getting other emotions involved. And on the off chance that she only wanted it because he was of a 'mythical' race, he'd have to find a way to tell her no. That was a bad reason to be with someone, and after being a virgin as long as he had, he figured he deserved something more special for his first time.

Natsu continued to just stare at Lucy for a while, making her uncomfortable. Perhaps she'd misread the situation. Maybe he'd just been busy, not necessarily quiet. Feeling like an idiot, she grabbed her ice cream and started to walk backwards out of the room. "Nevermind, it was stupid. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just going to- eek!"

Plue showed up just as she was leaving the room, causing Lucy to trip. She tried to grab onto the wall to stop herself as she fell, but she failed, and when she moved her foot to catch her balance, she only succeeded in falling faster.

Before she could hit the ground, though, an arm wrapped around her and stopped her descent. Lucy opened her eyes to find Natsu squatting, one arm wrapped around her and one held away from them with her bowl in hand. His legs were on either side of her body to support them both and Lucy actively avoided thinking about how certain body parts were closer together than they should be as she pulled away. Natsu let her scoot across the floor as he settled back onto his feet and held out her ice cream.

"Thank you," she said as she took the bowl.

"You're welcome." Natsu watched her face turn red as she moved to stand. "Wait, Lucy."

Lucy paused, one knee on the ground and her free hand on her other knee, ready to push herself up. "What?"

Natsu felt the fade, but fought it as he reached forward to squeeze her hand. "If you want something from me, you have to ask. You can talk to me about anything, because I'm your friend. And as your demon, I have the ability to make a lot of things happen. So if you want something, don't be afraid to talk to me about it. Just ask, okay?" Then the fade happened again, and his mouth opened on its own. "_Master_," he purred.

The heat that flashed through Lucy at that moment was more than she'd ever felt before, more than any other man had ever been able to create within her with touch, and Natsu had done it with one _word_. Her mouth went dry as she watched a smile work its way slowly across his face and his swirling eyes focused on hers with so much intensity, she worried she might drown.

"Natsu…" His name was merely a whisper, but it affected Natsu like he'd been hit by a cannon. As his body jerked forward, he was unable to stop himself from yanking the bowl from her hand and then pulling her against him.

Suddenly, there was a pop to his right and Lucy was being yanked out of his arms. The fade was too strong this time and as rage filled him, and he lost himself once more.

When he came to later, he was lying face down and hands were running through his hair. He groaned as he pushed himself up and lifted his face to see Virgo sitting there. She didn't even blink as she continued to feel across his scalp.

"There's a lump, but I think he'll be okay," she said as she pulled her bloody hands away. She wiped them on the apron of her maid's uniform, and then stood up to head for the kitchen.

"That's good to hear," came a rasp from behind him. Natsu quickly turned around, but groaned as his head began to pound. He lowered his head to the floor again, and when the banging lessened to a dull thump, he slowly lifted his head again to find Leo sitting on Lucy's couch.

"Glad you're okay," the angel said.

"You're not looking so hot," was Natsu's response. The angel had one arm wrapped around his torso, and his clothes were all torn and blood splattered. From the way he was breathing, it was obvious he was struggling and in pain, and with his swollen eye and blood soaked hair, Natsu was honestly concerned for the angel's well being.

Leo chuckled, but cut off with a groan when it jostled him too much. "Yeah, well, I'm not feeling so hot."

"Shouldn't Virgo be checking you over instead of me?" Natsu asked.

"Maybe, but I'll be okay. Angel healing abilities are better than a demon's after all."

"You sure? Because you look like death."

"I'll be fine," he said again. "I just have to go home. I've been in the Dark too long, so my magic has been basically all sucked out of me. Once I return and rest, I'll be good as new. Unfortunately, Lucy doesn't have that long."

"What is that supposed to-" Natsu suddenly remembered what had happened, and as he looked around, he found no sign of her, except for the melting ice cream bowl at his side.

"Shit…" Natsu lowered his head to the floor again. "I can't believe they got her away from me."

"From what I could tell, you put up a good fight."

"How could you tell that?" Natsu asked.

"I saw the guys who brought Lucy back to replace me as their prisoner. I'm kind of surprised the one guy was still standing, considering how much blood was on him. I'm guessing they surprised you and got her before you could react, and the one you didn't nearly claw to death managed to knock you out so they could take her."

"They took Lucy," Natsu growled, ignoring Leo's words. The reality of what had happened was finally starting to settle in and the rage that filled him was enough to make even the demon kings tremble as he got to his feet. He began to change, unconsciously, and as he stalked towards Leo, he found that he wasn't sure just which part of him was in control at that moment.

"_Where is she?_"

"She's in the Dark again, but more than likely isn't in the same place as last time."

"How do I get to her?" Natsu asked.

"Virgo will help you," Leo said as he hissed in pain. "She's going to get a couple more hands to help you, and then you're going to return and get Lucy back."

"I don't need more hands, I just need someone to get me there."

"You'll be taking more hands," Leo said firmly. "You have more important things to worry about than just getting Lucy back, don't you see that?"

"No. I don't care about anything el-"

"Zalanoon has figured out what Lucy is and is determined to keep her in the Dark until he gets what he needs from her." Leo's eyes and voice were fierce as he spoke. "You need to stop him, Natsu, which probably means killing him."

"_Kill him?_" Despite the severity of the situation, Natsu found himself laughing. "You want me to kill _Zalanoon_? I'm not strong enough for that. His power is on par with the demon kings-"

"And you are the _fire dragon king's son_." Leo groaned a little as he tightened his grip around his waist. "Your bond with Lucy, combined with your power, is enough, Natsu. You can defeat him."

"I don't think so. I can't possibly beat him while I'm trying to save Lucy and fight off his army. His whole bit is getting people to believe in him and follow him. I can't fight all that." Natsu squinted at the angel. "And what do you mean my bond?"

"Your contract, of course," Leo said. "As her master, it wouldn't look very good to allow a formerly disgraced demon to take her from you, wold it?"

"Still-"

"You won't be alone," Leo said. "I didn't stay in this world for shits and giggles. Virgo is gathering help, and I'm here to summon your friends again."

Natsu looked like he wanted to argue some more, but Leo wasn't in the mood, which he seemed to sense, so he let it go. "Speaking of," Natsu said as he moved to get paper, "how are you here?"

"Zalanoon's minions were trying to get me to fess up to Lucy's location. They somehow figured out I'm her guardian angel and could tell them where she was. I didn't tell them anything, so I'm not sure how they found her, but once they got her, they let me go, as they had promised they would in the beginning.

"That was a foolish move, but I'm not about to tell them that." He picked up the pen Natsu held out to him and began to draw on the paper at his side. "Do you have any other allies that could aid you? This isn't just a matter of getting your master back. This is a matter of protecting the realms as we know them."

"Are you talking about-"

"Yes," Leo said.

"I'm talking about the prophecy."

* * *

**Hahaha! I wasn't feeling as nice today, and you guys didn't honestly think Zalanoon was gone for good, did you? Plus, Leo is back! I know you guys were worried, but don't despair, he's alive and kicking… for now.**


	47. Chapter 47

**We've finally gotten to the Blood Bond Prophecy guys. Enjoy!**

**Stranger 1999 and 3-kity-3: I'm always happy to see new readers! I hope you continue to enjoy yourselves.**

**Savwafair: This whole thing is really an exercise for me. The goal is to write every day, so getting enough down to share really doesn't take long at all.**

**As always, thanks for the love and happy reading.**

* * *

Loke winced as he tried once more to get comfortable on Lucy's couch. Once he was settled, he began to speak.

"I'm sure you know that millennia ago, the realms were all connected, right?"

"Yeah, the realms started out as one large realm, with all the races mixed together." Natsu moved to sit on the edge of Lucy's coffee table, only a few feet from Leo.

"That's right. Way back when we were first… created, or spawned, or whatever beginning story you believe, we were all together. Elves, demons, angels, humans, giants… you name them, they were there. Things were good, for a long time, and then fights began to break out and when a full scale war was on the horizon, it was decided that the realms needed to be split.

"Over time, the different realms evolved and changed on their own, but none of them ever reconnected. However, it's because they used to be one that travel between them is possible."

"I already knew that," Natsu said impatiently. "Everyone from the demon realms knows that."

"Calm down," Leo said. "It's where the story starts, so give me a minute." He sighed as he tried to find the right words. "What do the demons believe the reason is for the realms being split up?"

"The war," Natsu answered. "It was decided that certain races couldn't live together, so they were split up between different realms to protect the races from each other. No one knows how it was done, just that the demon kings, the dragon king and the king of the angels did it. It's irreversible, whatever it is, so no one really asks questions about it."

"See, that's not entirely true. It wasn't entirely the threat of a war that caused them to split the realms. It was what caused the threat of war that caused the kings to take action."

Natsu frowned. "I've heard a lot of theories about what caused the war, but it always came back to the races not getting along."

"The races got along fine, until a majority of them became envious of the humans."

"Humans?" Natsu laughed. "You're kidding right? The other races became jealous of the one with the lowest lifespan and complete lack of magical power? Why?'

"Because they held the favor of the angels." Leo sighed. "Our job as angels has always been to help the weak. Since they had no magic of their own, and were at the mercy of the other races, we angels tended to aid them more than the other races, whether with help, magical intervention, friendship, or whatever else they needed. The other races became jealous of that. It started as disagreements, little fights here and there, and then the other races began to shun the humans. They'd gang up against them, first as small groups, and then with larger and larger groups of mixed races. Human towns were attacked and destroyed, and eventually they started killing the humans rather than just inconveniencing them. Eventually, they decided to wipe them all out.

"My king was upset by their actions, so he recruited the demon kings to help him try and regain order. The kings of the other races didn't want to interfere, since they agreed with their people. The only reason the demon kings agreed was because their people had an abundance of their own magic and they tended to keep to themselves. The humans respected that and gave them their space, so they had no reason to go after them.

"The dragon king of that time didn't care either way, so he refrained from helping either side. Ironically, that upset the other races more than if he'd just agreed to help. Once the other races began to gang up against the dragons, he agreed to help."

Natsu frowned. "I guess I never thought about the fact that Igneel wasn't the first dragon king."

"He was important to the cause, though. At that point, he was young, yes, but he knew what was needed for the split to be successful."

"Really?"

"Yes, and I'll get to that in a little bit.

"The demon, angel and dragon kings all worked together to try and find a way to split the realms before a war could break out. Their research led them to two conclusions. The first being that the realms _could_ be split up. The second, was that they would either need to split them permanently, which would mean no travel or interaction between them ever again, or they would need to find the proper bond that would split the worlds, but keep them connected.

"The easiest way for that to happen, was to use a vessel that held no ill will toward any of the races. The problem with the required magic was that it used the will of the heart. The necessary spells read the heart of the caster or casters, and used that to create the split.

"They knew they could easily split the worlds with their combined magic, but they couldn't do so on their own without destroying the links. The dragon king had grown some animosity over the recent attacks against his brethren, and the angel king, while a forgiving king, was still upset over the other races inability to accept that our kind were essentially helping the less fortunate."

"I thought you said the demon kings didn't care? Why wasn't their indifference enough?"

"They didn't care about the quarrel with the humans," Leo corrected, "but they held a grudge against the dwarven king over a previous fight they'd had about them digging through a mountain that a large community of demons had already claimed. So they weren't indifferent to all the races, just most of them.

"The key was to find someone who bore _zero_ ill will toward any of the races."

"And… Igneel was the key to finding that person?"

"He was. He happened to hear part of a conversation between his king and mine, and he knew immediately who to nominate for the position."

"A Heartfilia?" Natsu guessed.

Leo grinned. "A Heartfilia. There was a little kingdom on the edge of the humans' lands, the name of which I can't remember at the moment, that welcomed all races. The only non hostile members of the hostile races dwelled there, and they were the first to stand and protect the country when the raids began on their border.

"Because of that, the humans who lived there were the only ones who didn't have to fear being attacked. The Heartfilias had always ruled there, and theirs was the only country in all of existence where all the races had ever been able to live in harmony.

"That was where Igneel had chosen to live, and he'd become very close to their queen. When he figured out that she could help, he invited her to meet with his king, who in turn introduced her to mine.

"Surprisingly, my king already knew her. Apparently he'd been good friends with the queen for a long time, practically since she was born. It was he who had instill in her family a love for the races. It was his guidance that had helped their land grow and prosper, and he'd watched over their land since its creation."

Natsu cocked his head. "So if your king knew she existed, why didn't he just suggest using her from the start?"

"I wondered the same," Leo said. "As head of the Zodiac, I was often at the king's side and I happened to be there the day Igneel brought her. My king had been unwilling to use her, because the cost to cast the spell was much higher using a vessel like her."

"What did she have to give up?" Natsu asked.

"You have to remember, the king was, and is, very fond of the Heartfilia family," Leo said carefully. "In order to cast the spell using a Heartfilia as the vessel, using a human, a fragile being with no inner magic, her entire being would have to be sacrificed. In essence, she would have to become the bond that linked the realms together."

Natsu felt his stomach clench to think about the position that would have put Igneel in. Once he realized he'd basically brought his friend to be sacrificed, how had he felt? Had he fought against using her, or begged to find a different way?

"Okay, then my next question is why they felt it was necessary to keep the worlds connected. Why not just split them up without the connection?"

"There were… certain people who weren't willing to do that. The way they'd decided to split the worlds would have separated certain people that didn't want to be split up."

"I don't understand."

Leo began to tick off on his fingers. "One of the demon kings was madly in love with one of the elven king's daughters. One of the demon kings' daughters had a soft spot for the dwarven king, despite the feud. There was Igneel, nephew of the dragon king, who was very fond of the Heartfilia queen, and my king who liked their whole family line. For starters," Leo said.

"The kings had many different reasons to not want to cut off contact permanently between everyone.

"The problem, though, was that one of the dragons and angel king would have to sacrifice someone they cared about to maintain that connection. They were running out of time to stop the war, and they were low on options. The Heartfillia line was the only family in the entire original realm that held no ill will toward any of the other races."

"How did they decide to use her?"

"They didn't." Leo smiled a little. "In true Heartfilia fashion, the queen heard their plight, and she offered to let them use her. Igneel and my king argued with her, fought with her, but she stayed firm. She wanted the races to live together and flourish, but if that couldn't happen, she wanted them all to at least survive.

"She returned home for a day to say goodbye to her family and announce to her country what would be happening before she returned for the ritual. She left behind her husband and two children, one son and one daughter, to save the humans.

"I wasn't there when they did the ritual, but I heard about it after from the king. Apparently when they cast the spell, it used her entire essence, as they knew it would, but something else was made as well. Not only did the Heartfilia queen not hate the other races, but she loved them. All of them. Her love for the other races is what created the Inbetween, the neutral space between all the realms. Her desire to see the races learn how to live and thrive together created a space where they could easily enter and exit to spend time with each other. That's the reason it's impervious to damage and why you can't harm other beings while you're in it.

"That's the Heartfilia legacy. Their line is the reason we exist as we do today, in our separate realms, but able to interact with each other."

"So what does that have to do with Lucy or the prophecy. The Blood Bond Prophecy, right?"

"Yes. The continuation of the Heartfilia line is imperative to maintain the bond and the separation between the realms."

Natsu frowned. "Does that mean there's some sort of price that has to keep being paid?"

"Yes, there is."

"I'm guessing that means the Heartfilias have to pay it?"

"Yes," Leo answered.

"What is it? Do they pay with blood?"

"Essentially. Every Heartfilia from the first queen to Lucy's mother has paid to maintain the bond between the realms. The Blood Bond Prophecy, though, speaks of an end to the continual offerings. It foretells that a Heartfilia will eventually be born whose offering will seal the spell, eternally, and make it impossible to rejoin the realms until a time when they will be able to live in harmony together."

Natsu sat up straighter as he realized what Leo was saying. "You think it's Lucy."

"It's her time," Leo said.

"_When the sevens equate five, _

_The answer will be born as_

_An end to the blood price,_

_Or the rejoining of the origin._

_If one and two create a pair,_

_The bond will be broken,_

_But if the heir finds a natural end,_

_The spell will be made eternal._

_Beware the red pool._

_One made too large will end the bond,_

_And the origin will return."_

"Uh…." Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Lucy was born on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year 777. That's the seven equates five bit. Essentially, if Lucy can just live out her life, on her death, the bond will become permanent. It's why I was chosen as her guardian angel. As the strongest of the zodiac, I'm the most qualified to protect her. The problem is I can't do it on my own. That's why the other zodiac are also helping."

"So what's that bit about the red pool, and one and two making a pair."

"I'm not sure about the pair part, but the red pool has to do with blood. The sacrifice the Heartfilias make to maintain the bond is blood. In essence, their spirit ends up before my king before they move on, and they are told about their family's part in everything and they give their donation. In return, we reassure them that we will watch over their offspring, which we do, and the cycle continues, until Lucy."

"So is that why she's being targeted?"

"Yes. The prophecy is not widely known, but it is talked about in some circles. Zalanoon knows, and he is trying to use Lucy to reconnect the Origin, instead of allowing the realms to be permanently separated. That's why he took her. We have time to get her back, but not much. I think that before we took them, Ova managed to figure out the right combination to help Lucy's blood regenerate faster, so we don't have as much time as I'd like, but I believe you have enough to save her."

"So when do we-"

"I need to finish these, and Virgo has to return."

Leo grabbed his pen again and finished summoning Sting and Rogue. Once Natsu had explained what was happening, the pair had agreed to help and went to raid the kitchen while they waited.

When the front door eventually opened, with it came a loud argument.

"What's going on?" Leo called.

Virgo entered as the pair of voices continued to argue in the kitchen. "I recruited the pair next door, as you asked, but they are arguing over whether both are coming with."

"I don't understand," Leo said.

"I will not have him coming along and getting hurt!" one of the voices shouted.

"And I'm not letting you take him into danger without being there to keep an eye on him!" came the response.

"Is that the blue guys?" Natsu asked.

"Yes," Leo answered with a sigh. "Would you mind going and sorting that out for me?"

"You got it," Natsu said, then rose to make his way to the kitchen.

Virgo moved to take Natsu's spot. "So did you tell him?"

"I did."

"Did you tell him everything?" she asked.

"Of course," he said with a frown.

"You know what I mean."

Leo remained silent as he listened to Natsu convince the arguing pair to quiet down. Honestly, he didn't like the idea of hurting the dragon hybrid, but what choice did he have?

_If one and two create a pair,_

_The bond will be broken._

"I didn't tell him about _that_, no."

"What will you do to stop it?" she asked.

Leo sighed as he sank into the couch, ignoring the protests of his ribs.

"I have no idea."

* * *

**So… I wanna do something fun. I'm enjoying this a lot, so I decided I want to open this up a bit for reader participation. **

**For those who have had ideas/ desires to see certain things happen in here, I want to offer you the opportunity to see it become reality. I'm going to give it a week, until next Saturday August 3rd, for people to enter my 'drawing.' On that day, I will collect all the names that have left a review **_**on this chapter**_ **(excluding guest reviews) or sent me a PM asking to be entered, and randomly choose one name. That person will be able to make a request with a writing prompt/ specific scene/ however they want to request it. It doesn't have to be something specifically for this rescue mission, it can be for anything that could happen in the future of the fic.**

**If it's something I can add without interrupting my plot, I will add it to this story when it naturally gets to a point for it to happen. If not, I will do an AU for this AU and more than likely post it at the end of a chapter. Either way, when we get to it, I will give that person credit (if they are okay with that) and share the prompt.**

**Once that person is chosen, I will shoot them a PM letting them know, that way they can remain anonymous if they choose when I eventually post the prompt. **

**So hit the review button if you're interested! I'm excited to work with one of you, and as always, love to hear your feedback.**

**Happy Friday, readers.**


	48. Chapter 48

**I'm here! Hubby took Friday off from work, so I took a short break from writing over the weekend, but I think I've more than made up for it here!**

*****Remember, if you want the chance to make a request for something to be put in this story, please leave a review on **_**Chapter 47**_**. I'm giving it a week, until Saturday the 3rd, and then I will randomly choose a winner on Sunday! Thanks for everyone who's already reviewed! I'm hoping for a really good request from one of you.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"I have to say, I'm not so sure about bringing the small one," Sting said.

Ova nodded. "I agree."

"Then you should have argued with Loke about it," Virgo said.

"I did!" Ova glared at the angel as he crossed his arms. "And I wasn't the only one. Everyone agreed with me."

"I didn't," Mao argued as he clutched his robes around him. Ever since they'd arrived in the Dark, his bravado had been slowly evaporating. "If it was that big of a problem, do you think I would be here?"

"I think Loke was willing to send as many bodies as he could, no matter if they were qualified or not," Ova said. His anger seemed to lessen every time he looked at his mate, who was obviously growing more uncomfortable and scared as the trip went on. He sighed as he moved to stand next to the man and put an arm around him. "You're an idiot," he said fondly.

"That's not what you were saying the last time we were here," Mao said.

"Can we stop the love fest and get a mooove on?" Stier adjusted his axe on his shoulder as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "How much longer until we get to fight something? Le- Loke promised me a fight, and I'm not leaving until I get one."

"Not far," Virgo said as she huffed, "I think. If the Leezars are correct, it shouldn't be much farther, but with the distortion here, I figured it would be better to be safe rather than sorry so we are doing shorter jumps."

"Virgo," Stier put a hand on her shoulder as she worked on catching her breath. "Do you want me to have a go at moving them?"

"No, just be ready to fight when we get there." Virgo took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she straightened her back. "Alright everyone, this should be the last one. Prepare yourselves." She held her arms out away from herself, and when they stopped moving again, they found themselves in a small clearing surrounded by thickets of dead, thorny bushes and dead trees.

"This is it," Mao said. "This clearing contains the entrance, but I don't know how to open it. I've only been here a couple times, and Zalanoon always made me look away when he opened it."

Virgo wiped at her face as she looked around. "That's fine, we don't want to use the entrance anyway. Give me a minute, I'll be right back."

Once she disappeared and her magic circle faded, Stier addressed the whole group. "Alright guys. Once we enter, the Leezars will direct us to where we need to gooo, but it will be up to use to take care of the enemy. Natsu, your primary objective is to get to Luuucy and get her away from whoever has her, and then protect her. The rest of us will be helping you get there and then get out. Virgo and I will take care of Zalanoooon when he shows up. Everyone stay safe, stay sharp, and stay alive, got it?"

Everyone nodded except for Rogue. "Are you sure that you two can handle him? If the stories we've heard are true, we'd be hard pressed to beat him with our entire group against him on his own."

"Don't worry about us," Stier said. "We can handle him."

Rogue looked like he wanted to argue, but chose instead to sink into Sting's shadow to wait.

Meanwhile, Natsu couldn't seem to get comfortable. There was a buzz under his skin that was driving him nuts. He kept itching but it didn't help. It was worse than when he went without his scarf for too long, but he didn't know what to do about it. Just when he was about to start digging a damn hole by himself, Virgo reappeared.

The strain of using her magic was obvious, and Natsu wondered if he should argue against her fighting Zalanoon in her condition. He didn't think anyone would agree with him, so he decided not to bother, instead vowing to keep an eye on her during the fighting. Lucy was his primary focus, but he could also keep an eye on the angel without compromising his mission.

"I found a good place to enter," Virgo said as she moved to stand in the middle of the group. "Everyone get ready." With a deep, steadying breath, she sent them into the ground and into the hidden compound.

Sting immediately jumped up as he landed on the floor. They appeared to have landed in a storage room, so he let his guard down a little. "Not a bad spot, Virgo. Well done."

"Uh…" Sting turned around and found he was alone with Mao. "I don't think it worked. Where are the others?"

"Damn it," Sting said as he moved towards the other man. The weight in his shadow was missing, which meant Rogue had also been pulled somewhere else. He stopped and looked around the room as he sighed.

"Well, now what do we do?"

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." Stier leaned his axe against his hip as he rubbed his face. "I should have known this wooould happen. Why wouldn't he suspect us coming back? He must have figured out how Virgo's magic worked. Damn it."

"Cursing isn't going to help any," Ova said. He crossed his arms as he looked around the empty room they were in. "We need to figure out where we are so we can plan where to go. I won't be able to do that until I see some of the building. As a guard, I patrolled the hallways a lot, but I never came into the rooms. My guess is that Lucy is in the lab, so we should work on finding that first. Mao will be able to help whoever he's with, but we'll just have to hope the others can find a way to either get there or at least stay out of trouble until we get where we need to be. Let's hurry."

Stier sighed as he picked up his weapon again. "Lead the way. If we come across anyone, I'll take care of it, don't worry."

Ova grinned as a long blade appeared in his hand, seemingly from nowhere. "Don't worry, I'm not."

* * *

Virgo barely caught herself as she stumbled against the wall. "This… isn't right," she panted. "That took too much… magic. Why did that… take so much magic?"

"Worse, we seem to have lost everyone." Rogue sent his shadows out to search the nearby hallways. "Come on, we need to find cover for a bit while you collect yourself. Can you walk? If we're caught out here, we might ruin everything."

Virgo nodded and let the demon hybrid lead. "Where did the others go? I don't understand what happened."

"My guess is Zalanoon figured out what happened the first time and added some sort of barrier to his facility so we couldn't get in as easily as last time. Come on, there's a closet nearby, let's get out of sight."

Once they were safely inside the closet, Rogue continued to search out the halls and rooms that he could reach with his shadows. "I found the front door, so we didn't make it in very far. We might have to wait until someone else does something."

"What do you mean?" Virgo asked. She was breathing normally now, but she was struggling to keep her head and body upright.

"Well both Mao and Ova are here, right? They both said they know the layout of this place. If we assume that everyone was split up the way we were, that means there are four teams running around, and if they were split up, then two of those groups will know where to go. If we wait, maybe they can get to where they need to go and we can be their back up once everyone else realizes what's happening."

"I don't like that idea, but we'll stick with it for now." Virgo sighed as she leaned back against the corner. "Mostly because I need to rest. I'm not sure why, but I am very low on magic. If I don't recover some before we start fighting, I might not have enough to get us out of here. Keep an ear open and wake me if something happens. I just need a few minutes." As she let out a breath, she fell instantly into a healing sleep.

Rogue began to wonder at the teams that could be running around when he finally realized they had an odd number. If he was right, someone was running around alone. As he wondered who would be the worst to have been left alone, he continued to send his shadows out and slowly mapped out the facility.

As long as Natsu wasn't by himself, they would probably be fine.

* * *

Natsu peaked around the corner before sneaking down the next hallway, all the while mentally cursing Virgo. What had happened to split them all up? It wasn't that he was against working alone, but he would have liked to have known it was going to happen. He was flying blind, having no idea how the bunker was set up and his senses were doing nothing for him, _again_.

He tried to reach out to Lucy through their bond, but he imagined they'd drugged her again, so unless she felt something on her own, that was a dead end.

As he made it to the next intersection, he paused. He couldn't hear or smell anything, and he didn't see anything to give him any idea where he was or where he should go. He'd even welcome a person at this point. Then maybe he could force them to help him find his way.

The itch under his skin intensified until he was ready to set everytyhing around him on fire. Not knowing where Lucy was, but knowing she was in danger, was killing him. It was his job to take care of her, contract or not, and he'd _failed._ She'd been taken right from under his nose, and he'd been powerless to stop it. She could be dead right now, and it would be all his fault. If they didn't get her back, if Zalanoon succeeded, it would be _his fault_. How would he live with himself if that happened?

As he sank to the floor, unable to keep himself from wallowing in his self pity, he felt a tug. It wasn't from Lucy- didn't feel the same- but something in him wanted to follow it. Was maybe even what was doing the pulling. Natsu lifted his head from his hands.

There it was again. He wasn't sure if it had to do with his other personality, or perhaps the contract, or if it was just a gut feeling, but he was certain that he needed to take the hallway to the left to find Lucy. He got to his feet and continued to move, trying to relax and follow the instinct that drove his movements. At the next intersection, the pull continued, so he increased his speed and opened up his awareness.

He was going to find her, with or without the others.

* * *

Sting yanked Mao into the open door as footsteps echoed through the hallway ahead of them. He put his finger to his lips and hoped the other man understood. Mao nodded and remained still as the footsteps continued passed their room and down the way they'd come. When they finally faded, Sting sighed. "That was too close. We're finding too many people."

"That's because we're in the living quarters," Mao said. "We're two levels above Zalanoon's offices and three above the lab. I don't know what time of day it is, but judging by the foot traffic, I'd say it's around mealtime. They do the changing of the guards during meals as well, so that increases the amount of people moving around in the halls."

"Damn it," Sting said. "This is going to be more difficult with all these people. We need a distraction. Something that will keep a bunch of people busy, but won't alert them to our presence." He sighed as he looked over. "Got any ideas?"

Mao rubbed his chin as he thought. When he began to grin, Sting took a small, involuntary step back. Even though they were working together, he couldn't help but be a little worried about that look.

"You know, I think I have just the idea," Mao said.

* * *

Rogue frowned as he felt his shadows reach their limit. _Damn it_. He'd only been able to reach the top two floors. He hadn't found either of the presences he sought, and he knew there were many more floors that the last place because he hadn't found any of their allies either. If they wanted to be productive, they were going to have to move. At this rate, they would be much too far away to be of any use once the others needed them.

He leaned over and shook Virgo a little. When the angel opened her eyes, she looked through him for a long moment before she seemed to shake herself out of her sleepy state.

"We need to move," Rogue said. "We're in the top floor, and I can't find any of our friends, or our targets up here. If we're going to do anything to help, we need to make our way further into the compound. Can you move?"

"Of course." Virgo stood up, wobbling a little, but she caught herself and moved towards the door. She put her ear against it to listen.

"I didn't find anyone on the first floor," Rogue said, " and there's only half a dozen on the second, but they're in a room together, so they shouldn't be too difficult to avoid."

"Sounds good. Let's go."

As they left the room, an alarm began to sound.

* * *

Natsu continued to jog down the hallway he was in as the alarm screamed overhead. He glared up at the flashing lights as he ran, annoyed at the high pitch noise.

"If it was Rogue or Sting that messed up, I'm retracting my favor," he growled to himself. He lurched to a stop and then hid behind a rather large pillar as he heard footsteps. A group of four beings, none of them a race Natsu recognized, ran past him, speaking in hurried voices. Once he was sure they hadn't noticed him, he continued to move.

Three hallways later, he found himself outside of a locked wooden door. He glanced both ways down the hall before he raised a hand to unlock the door. When it didn't respond to his magic, he tried again, with a much more powerful spell. When that also failed to unlock the door, he growled to himself and put his hands together. A small ball of flame began to grow in the gap between his palms. He grew it bigger and bigger, until it was barely contained by his hands. When he unleashed it on the door, the handle and locking mechanisms shattered, sending bits of metal in all directions. Natsu felt the bite of hot shrapnel hit him in a few places, but he ignored them and pushed the door open.

The space he found himself was clean and stark white and exactly the same as the last lab he'd found Lucy in. When his eyes landed on the covered body on the table, he bolted forward to reveal it.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

Natsu flipped around and finally noticed the other presence in the room. A tall person, at least eight feet, with several tentacles wiggling under their lab coat stood quickly sorting through screens on a large monitor.

"Why shouldn't I?" Natsu asked.

"They're dead."

With dread coiling in his gut, Natsu looked behind him again and saw the golden hair barely poking out from under the blanket. With a roar, his change began, and he ran at the other person.

They whipped around at the noise and put up their hands. "Wait, Natsu, stop!"

Natsu didn't. Instead, he swung and sent the other person flying across the room. They landed with a thud as a cloud of dust was emitted by the cracked wall. With a groan, the person landed and then a pop later, a pair of small blue beings were revealed.

"We're friends," one of them said. "I'm Gemi."

"And I'm Mini," the other coughed.

"You're… friends?"

"Piri," they said together.

"We're Gemini, the twins," Gemi informed him. "Virgo said you knew we were helping with guarding Miss Lucy."

"Yes, but she didn't tell me what your powers were, or tell us you were coming with to the Dark." Natsu began to move towards them.

"We didn't tell her," Mini said. "We followed through, once the portal was opened, and moved ourselves on our own power to get here."

Natsu kneeled down. "Well that might not have been the best plan. I'm sorry I threw you. Are you guys okay?"

"Piri. We're angels," Gemi said.

"We can handle it," Mini finished.

"What were you guys doing?" Natsu asked as he helped them stand.

"We were trying to find where Miss Lucy is." The pair began to float and after a moment, there was a dim light and they morphed back into the tall tentacle person.

With a few wipes of their hands, they removed the dust and made their way back across the room. "The computer system is the best way to do that, so we borrowed this researcher's form to try and use it to find her."

"So that's not her under the blanket?"

"No, although it looks like her. We think they were supposed to be bait, since they were disguised as Miss Lucy. We were hoping- ah, there it is."

Natsu moved to read the screen, but he didn't understand the language. "What does it say?"

"It's a memo. Before they reclaimed Lucy, they upgraded this facility. Magic is much harder to use for those who shouldn't be here, and they masked their identities with a special spell, so we can't sniff Miss Lucy out. We were drawn here because of the Lucy decoy, but that's not really her. We have no way of tracking her down without Leo."

"Sure we do," Natsu said. "If we can just get Lucy awake, I can find her." Natsu perked up as he had an idea. "Since you're posing as this tentacle person, do you think you could figure out who's experimenting on her and maybe get them to wake her up? I just need Lucy to feel something, anything, and then I should be able to figure out where she is."

"We could try." Gemini turned around, but before they could do anything, the computers all went black as the power was turned off in their room.

"Damn it," Natsu said as he looked around. He didn't see anything different, but he continued to scan the space as he moved closer to Gemini. "I have a feeling this isn't typical protocol during an alarm. Can you see in the dark?"

"Not in this form, but we can if we turn back." There was a disturbance in the air, and then there were small hands on both of his shoulders.

"We'll stay close," one of them said.

"Good idea. I think we should leave. I didn't exactly enter the room quietly."

"Piri."

Taking that as consent, Natsu began to move forward, but as he stepped, the floor beneath him softened and began to pull him down.

A moment later, he was gone, and the twins were alone.

* * *

"It was Natsu, wasn't it?" Stier swung again, knocking out another guard. "I'll have that demon's head on a platter when we get out of here!"

"Don't jump to conclusions," Ova said as he knocked out yet another guard as well. He ducked a swing and then tricked two of the guards into hitting each other. With the last of them down, the pair continued to move. "We don't know that yet."

"It had to be. Who else would have gotten caught already?"

As they rounded a corner, they bounced off a familiar pair. Sting caught himself as he bounced off Stier before he could hit the wall. As Ova helped steady Mao, the smaller Leezar threw himself at the other and knocked them both over.

"I was so worried!" Mao cried.

"Shh, not so loud," Ova said as he hugged his mate to him. He smiled affectionately at him as he whispered, "You idiot, we're trying to be quiet."

"I think we're passed that," Sting said. "Any idea what set the alarms off?"

"No idea," Stier answered.

"Well that's too bad. We were just hatching a plan to create a distraction when they started going off." Sting held out his hand and sent a ball of light down the hall, knocking an incoming guard to the ground. "We should get a move on. I think our timeframe just took a massive cut."

"I'll lead," Ova said as he stood with his mate. Once he had Mao's hand firmly in his, they began to run together down the hall with the others in tow.

* * *

Rogue carefully let go of the last of the six guards he and Virgo had taken out as the alarms continued to sound. "Damn, I was hoping we'd have more time."

"Since we don't, there's only one way to get where we need to go." Virgo moved from her last target and put a hand on Rogue's shoulder.

"Hang on," she said.

"Wait," Rogue said as his eyes went wide. "Virgo, you don't have enough-!"

With a pop, they shot into the ground and reappeared a few seconds later.

Virgo wobbled and then fell over as Rogue caught her and then fell against the wall.

"Virgo, that was-" He cut off as he looked around himself. They were in a lab, one that looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Despite that, a few beakers were boiling on bunsen burners nearby, and after Rogue laid Virgo down, he moved forward to look at them. He leaned close enough to get a sniff and jerked back once he had. He knew what those were. If they had any ready… if they'd used one on any of their friends…

"Oh no," he whispered.

* * *

**Sorry guys, but you should know by now that I love me my cliffhangers!**


	49. Chapter 49

**Ugh, guys I've already started the next part, and I teared up a bit while I was working on it, but there's going to be something really fun in it, I promise. I'm really excited about it. Really, **_**really**_ **excited. I was hoping to be able to have something really good/ fun/ important happen in 50 and I have succeeded!**

**I had a lot of writing time today. This part has **_**me**_ **on the edge of my seat, so every spare moment is going into this right now.**

**Savwafair: I've got something else in mind, but don't worry. It's going to be good.**

*****Remember, if you want the chance to make a request for something to be put in this story, please leave a review on **_**Chapter 47**_**.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Something is wrong."

Virgo glanced over. "Why do you say that?"

"Instinct." Rogue began to spin as he looked around the hallway they were in. "We should-"

He was cut off as magic circles appeared below them and yanked them down.

* * *

Mao noticed as the demon hybrid at his side began to look around them with narrowed eyes. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Sting said, "but I have a feeling something bad is about to happen."

As he began to look around nervously, Mao pulled his robes closer to himself. "What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure, but-"

Simultaneously, the pair were sucked into the floor as magic circles appeared at their feet.

* * *

"So, where to now?" Stier asked.

"This way." Ova led them to a door and the inside of it. "There's another door in here that's a bit of a shortcut to get to the stairs for the next level."

"I thought you said you didn't go into the rooms while you were here?"

"I didn't go into many, but it was faster to take-"

As the last of the circles appeared, Stier and Ova also vanished.

When they landed, hard, they opened their eyes to find that they were not alone. Around them appeared to be a total of six glass cages. In each of them was one of their comrades.

"Ova! Ova, are you okay?!" At one end, Mao was pressed up against the glass trying to see his mate.

"I'm fine, Mao. How are you?"

"I'm good. Sting kept a careful eye on me."

Sting didn't seem to hear him as he studied the space around himself. He was three cages away from the shorter blue man, but didn't join in on his conversation. When he realized there was nothing to see outside of the glass but blank walls and floor, he turned toward the other hybrid. "You okay Rogue?"

Rogue glared once more at his cage on the opposite end from Mao before responding. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm not sure how Virgo is doing, but we didn't die, so that's good."

Stier began to bang on the glass of his cage as he looked down at the other angel. "Virgo! Virgo, wake up!"

The pink haired angel didn't even stir as her name was shouted at, despite Stier being on just the other side of the glass.

Stier glared at Rogue. "What happened?"

"She used up too much magic. I think there's some sort of barrier that increases the amount of magic used when casting spells in here, and she just pushed herself too hard. If she rests, I'm fairly certain we'll be fine, but without her, I don't know how we're getting back."

"Not to mention how we're getting out of these cages," Sting added.

Stier gripped his axe with both hands and then swung at the glass. It surprised him when the glass didn't crack, but what surprised him more was that his axe bounced off of it and the surface seemed to ripple. "Looks like it's been reinforced somehow."

"That would be correct, good sir!" A voice rang out in the mostly empty room around them. "Those cages have been reinforced to hold up to the strength of angels, demons, dragons, and most certainly those weakling former employees of mine."

One of the walls began to slowly open, splitting in the middle as they pulled apart to reveal a large colosseum on the other side. It had high stone walls, tall pillars, both standing and broken, scattered around the space, and a sandy floor. There were dark patches all over the place, most likely from blood.

"Isn't it beautiful? I drew my inspiration for this place from the human world. Have any of you visited the colosseum in Rome? It's beautiful, and the stories about it moved me in ways I've never been moved before. I've created this place to be a perfect replica, down to the kind of stone used in the walls. It was difficult to get that much rock off the planet, but what can I say? I'm a likeable kind of guy."

"Zalanoon," both Sting and Rogue said at the same time.

"Ah, so you've heard of me. That's wonderful!"

Across the space, at least a hundred feet, maybe more, another portion of the wall had opened, revealing a balcony with a large chair, upon which sat a man clothed entirely in black. His skin was nearly an identical shade, and his hair fell down his shoulders in red waves. The burning fires in his eyes were unmistakable, even from this distance. When he smiled, the white of his teeth contrasted sharply with the rest of him.

Next to him stood two identical sized beings, both in dark red robes and holding staves that burned at the top with black fire.

"I had wondered if I was still talked about in the demon realm. I'm glad to know my story is still shared there, especially with the young ones. I'm flattered, honestly." The being stood and took a bow. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Zalanoon, and I will be your entertainer this evening. Well, not so much your entertainer as your… referee, let's say."

He sat back down and crossed his legs. He steepled his fingers and then leaned forward. "You see, I knew you'd be coming, and I'm rather bored waiting on all the blood to be collected from our dear little Heartfilia, so I decided that I'd like to use you all to have some fun. What do you say?"

"Where is Natsu?" Sting asked, just loud enough for the others to hear. "Why isn't he in one of these cells, too?"

"I have something I'd like you to see." Zalanoon stood up and walked forward a few paces. "Tell me, the two of you that are from the demon realm, have you ever heard of Genwior?"

_I was right_. Rogue didn't say anything, but as he looked at Sting, he caught the other hybrid's eyes widen and before he looked towards Rogue, too.

"As I suspected. To the rest of you, Genwior was a demon who used to live in the highest realm of the demon world. He was the human world's equivalent of a scientist. He used to spend his time creating potions with effects that weren't… let's just say they weren't typically accepted among the rest of my kind."

"He's dead!" Sting leaned forward on his glass cage. "He went too far and the demon kings killed him."

"Yes they did, and it's a shame isn't it? That demon was a genius. They even went so far as to destroy his research!" He tsked. "Can you believe that?" He turned to one of the beings behind him and a moment later they walked away.

"Well, the good news is, that last part was a lie."

"No." Rogue stepped forward. "They destroyed his work. Some of his potions made their way out into the realms, but his work was disposed of."

Zalanoon chuckled. "I'm afraid not, my friend."

"Don't call me your friend." Rogue felt his scales threatening to escape his skin. "Skiadrum helped to collect the potions that had been given out, and I know that he disposed of them." Well, most of them. He'd gotten into the dragon's stash one time, and he knew for a fact that none of the ones he'd saved had gone missing. He'd gotten into plenty of trouble, but he'd opened some of them before his father had caught him and asked about them later. One of them happened to be the one he'd just found in the lab.

"That he did." Zalanoon folded his hands in front of himself. "You can never underestimate a dragon's nose, and he did help in regathering many of them, you are correct about that, but I'm afraid you're wrong about the research." He smiled. "Oh come on. Is it really any surprise that the demon kings would keep that research to themselves? Of course they did! It was invaluable, even if it was, in their words, inhumane. They kept it because knowledge is power, no matter what that knowledge is."

"You're lying!" Sting yelled.

Zalanoon tsked again. "I think the dragon in you two is a bit too strong. I don't think you understand just how truly despicable demons can be. At any rate, you're about to see just how wrong you are. Do either of you know what the last potion was that Genwior created?"

_Natsu isn't here,_ Rogue thought.

"The kings never told us." Sting crossed his arms. "Large groups of demons were attacked and killed out of nowhere, and once it was cleaned up, they just told us that he had been dealt with."

_They know how to make _that _potion_. Rogue's hands clenched into fists. _What are they going to do with him?_

"Let's just say that the potion made his demon test subjects… more true to themselves." Zalanoon glanced back as his man returned. "Would you like to see what that potion did?"

_Oh no…_

To their left, a portion of the wall opened up and as the lights overhead dimmed, a large creature entered through the new opening. It was huge, and despite some dragonlike features, was clearly a demon. Black skin and scales covered most of the creatures body, even his wings and horns. His nose was lengthened, much like a dragon's, and smoke rose steadily from his nose. The beast kept himself hunkered down as he searched the space around him, black shadows dancing off his body as he moved, helping to hide his body.

"Natsu…" Stier knelt down as Virgo finally stirred. "What did they do to him?"

"What are you talking about?" Stier asked.

"That's Natsu. That's his true form. Leo warned me what would happen if they…" She got up on her knees to look out the glass. "His scarf is missing. He needs his scarf to keep his inner monster at bay."

"It's worse than that," Rogue said. "The potion they used on him is forcing that monster out. I'm afraid even with his scarf, he'd still look like that."

"We need to help him." Virgo slowly got to her feet. "We need to save him. He's our only way to find Lucy without Leo here."

"Ah Virgo, it's so good to see you're back up again!" Zalanoon moved to sit in his seat. "Now that the audience is all awake, let's see who will get the first crack at our demon-dragon hybrid, shall we?"

"What is he talking about?" Even as Sting asked the question, lights appeared at the top of their cages, and then flashed as one light moved back and forth between them. After a while it slowed down, and when it stopped, it glowed a constant, dull green.

"How fitting," Zalanoon exclaimed, "that our first contestant is one of my former employees!"

Mao's eyes widened in terror as those words sank in. "What?" His voice was barely a whisper, barely loud enough to be heard, especially over the ruckus Ova began to make.

"Damn you Zalanoon, leave him alone! You know he's not good in a fight!"

"I think he just hasn't been given the proper chance to try." Zalanoon sighed. "I mean you're probably right, and it will most likely be a slaughter, but perhaps your little mate will be able to surprise us with something before he goes out."

"No! I won't let you!"

"Won't let me?" Zalanoon threw his head back and laughed. "And what do you think you're going to do to stop me?"

Ova looked over at his mate, then down at where Natsu was still hiding amongst his shadows. Determination shone in his eyes as he stood up straight and looked back at his former boss. "I volunteer. Send me in instead."

"Oooo, I wasn't expecting that." Zalanoon cocked his head. "Perhaps that could be fun. No wait, wait, wait, I can do one better!" A matching green light began to glow above Ova as well. "How about we send both of you in together?"

Sting slammed against his glass with his hands. "Zalanoon, that's stupid! Send me in instead!"

"Sting, you idiot!" Rogue yelled. "Natsu's not in his right mind, he won't hold back!"

The blond ignored his friend."If you want a fight, send someone in there that can actually fight. If you send those two, it'll be a slaughter. Where's the entertainment in that?"

"You can't count out the value of a good slaughter," Zalanoon countered. "We have to work up to the good part of the show. Where's the fun if the climax is at the beginning?"

"Send me in Zalanoon," Ova argued, "but leave Mao out of this. Please. I'll do anything you ask. I'll fight him with my hands tied behind my back if you want, just don't send Mao in!"

Zalanoon hummed a little. "Hands tied behind your back, hm?"

Mao slammed his hands against the glass. "Ova, take that back! You can't possible win like that!"

"I'll fight him anyway you want. Whatever way will entertain you most." Ova's voice grew thick with tears. "Please just keep Mao out of it."

"NO! Stop it, Ova!" Mao looked towards Sting. "Please. Please, he doesn't stand a chance, fight in his place!"

Zalanoon's voice cut through the Leezar's words. "I accept." The light in Mao's prison went out and the floor of Ova's cage began to descend.

"NOOO! No, Zalanoon, please!" Mao desperately banged against the glass surrounding him. "Please, let him go! Don't send him in there!"

"Mao."

The Leezar looked over as his mate continued to sink into the floor. Ova smiled at Mao, tears noticeably welling up in his eyes. Before he completely disappeared, he opened his mouth to speak. "It's my job to protect you, remember?" He swallowed down his tears before he could finish speaking. "I love you, Mao."

A plate slid in place to seal off the cage once more and Mao began to cry in earnest.

The others watched on, not sure how to comfort him, when they all saw the ball of shadows that was Natsu suddenly disappear inside the colosseum. "Where did he go?" Stier asked.

"He's hunting," Virgo whispered.

"How is using the shadows?" Rogue asked.

"It's not the shadows he's using," the pink haired angel answered as she searched the space below. "It's the power he received from his demon mother. She was one of the cruelest demons to ever live. Her malice is the reason he wears the scarf, because without it, he has trouble controlling this version of himself. It overpowers his dragon side."

"Who was his mother?" Stier asked.

Virgo didn't look away from the field. "Once upon a time, the demon kings had a queen amongst them, do you remember?"

"Yeah, the queen was head of the nightmare demons. She was banished when the others of her kind were." Stier's eyes went wide. "You don't mean that, do you? _That_ was his mother?"

Virgo nodded. "It was an accident on Igneel's part and calculated on hers."

"That's impossible," Sting said. "The nightmare queen never had any children."

"She hid it, but she definitely did." Virgo nodded ahead of her. "In this form, Natsu is stronger than anyone in the demon realm, possibly even the kings. Igneel knew he'd grow up strong, with both his strength and her cunning combined, so he made the scarf that keeps this portion of him at bay, and raised him to be better than his demon parts."

"How do you know that?" Stier asked. "I've heard rumors of his maternity, but Igneel has always been quiet about who the mother is."

"The king told me, after Loke was taken. He needed to make sure I understood the importance of him keeping that scarf. He warned me to be more aware around other demons, since they can sense how truly potent the magic in the scarf is."

"And sense it I did," Zalanoon interrupted. He reached into a pocket of his long black robe and pulled out a small ball of white. "The magic in this thing is incredible, and I have some rather elaborate plans for it, once I've finished the lot of you off and returned the realms to what they once were." He reached above him to hang the scarf from a hook on a nearby pillar.

"Now that our first contestant is ready, shall we begin?"

Mao's wailing grew louder as another door opened on the far right side of the space. Ova walked out, his back straight and head held up high. There was a mask of some sort wrapped around his head, obscuring his eyes. He stumbled a little when he tripped over a rock, but he didn't show any fear as he entered the ring.

Zalanoon chuckled as the door slid closed, and then raised his hand.

"Aaaaaand… start."


	50. Chapter 50

**GUYS! I'm so **_**freaking**_ **excited about this part. I hope you love it as much as I do.**

**Thefluffiestwriter: His big thing is charming people, with and without magic, so I couldn't make him a complete asshole. I'm also a big fan of the villians that you kind of like, even though you're supposed to hate them.**

*****Remember, if you want the chance to make a request for something to be put in this story, please leave a review on **_**Chapter 47**_**.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Virgo pulled her legs close and crossed them. "We have to stop this, Taurus," she said quietly

Around them, the hybrids and Mao were beside themselves yelling and banging against the glass of their cages. Taurus nodded as he kneeled down so he could whisper back. "What's the plan?"

"We need to get to Natsu before he hurts the blue one. Once he's back in his right mind, he won't be able to forgive himself if he finds out he killed an ally." She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. "I'm going to do that spell."

"Which spell."

"The one I probably shouldn't do."

"You don't mean… _that_ spell."

"Yes, I mean _that_ spell."

Stier growled lowly. "You're not supposed to do that spell because it would kill you! Leo and Aquarius are the only ones who can perform that spell without dying, you know that!"

Virgo corrected him. "The king can do it, too."

"Because he is twice as powerful as them both combined!" Taurus leaned closer. "Let's come up with another plan. _Please_. I need you to help us get out of here! If you die, we're stuck. We _need_ you if we're going to get out of the Dark."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Virgo asked.

"I think I can break out of here. It sounded like it's a huge drain on your magic to cast spells, so I've been trying to hold back, but now's as good a time as any to act."

In the large ring in front of them, Ova had made it to the middle of the ring. He had two swords in his hands held out to each side, just waiting to be used. The air was still, mostly silent, since Natsu appeared to still be hiding.

Suddenly, Ova's body began to contort and his weapons dropped to the ground. A scream was ripped from his throat as he clutched his head and curled up on himself in the sand.

"Do it now, Taurus. _Now_," Virgo whispered. She began to channel her magic as well. "I have something else I'd like to try while you do that." A blue light began to build up around her body, but the glow barely noticeable next to what the other angel was doing.

Taurus threw his arms out to the sides and began to channel a bright golden light. It blinded the others in their cages; so much so that they fell silent as they tried to protect their eyes.

When the light finally faded, Taurus was revealed in his full angelic form. His wings were so large, they took up half of his cage. His chest, now covered in a full layer of hair, was exposed and a short, kilt-like garment had appeared around his waist. Horns had sprouted from his head, which was now also covered in hair, and his nose was longer. His nose ring glinted in the light as he leaned down to pick up his axe, which began to grow even larger. He took a step back and then wound up before slamming his axe against the glass. After two more swings, he managed to crack it.

In the ring, the noise began to distract Natsu, who had finally come out of his shadows to stalk the screaming, writhing mess that was Ova. He turned and looked up to study the light that was still dimly glowing in Taurus's cage. To the relief of the others, Ova's screams dried up and he was left panting in the sand.

Hope began to blossom in Mao's chest as the demon hybrid below them turned his attention their way. The angels were doing it! They were distracting him!

Natsu growled as the shadows began to swirl around him again. Before he was completely covered, he reached over with one arm and slashed his claws across Ova's torso, splattering the sand with streaks of blood that soaked in to join the many other stains.

Mao's eyes widened as the beast disappeared once more, and then a heart wrenching scream filled the space around him. _His mate! His Ova!_ The one who'd been with him his entire life, how could he! He could see the body in the ring jerk, once, twice, and then still.

It couldn't be. It couldn't. Ova couldn't die. _He couldn't._

Mao looked across the space at Zalanoon, who appeared to be more interested in what the angels were doing and less in what was going on in the ring. He wasn't even sure the demon was aware that his new pet was missing again.

Mao reached out his hands and laid them against the glass. He had to get out. If he could just get out, he could do it. He could get revenge. He wouldn't let Zalanoon get away with this, _he couldn't_.

"I'm surprised I didn't recognize you," Zalanoon said, his voice somehow making it through the racket being made by the angel. "Taurus the bull. I should have known, with a name like Stier. And that axe! I admit it's been a while, but I really should have recognized it."

"Nothing can hold me back in my truuue form," Taurus said as he continued to swing. "Least of all these pathetic excuuuses for cages."

"Oh I don't know, they seem pretty sturdy to me." Zalanoon snapped his fingers and then a light purple smoke began to fill the glass box Taurus was in. The angel took a deep breath and increased the ferocity of his swings as he was slowly obscured by the fog. "Don't worry, it's not lethal, but I'm not sure you'll wake up again. I've never tested it on an angel before. I'm rather excited by the prospect."

Suddenly, the blue light surrounding Virgo flashed and the entire space around them, along with the colosseum and the space around Zalanoon was filled with the same blue light. _I found her_, Virgo thought with a grin. Into the space, loud enough for everyone to hear, her whispered word rang out. "_Wake_."

Suddenly, Natsu appeared before them, drawn to their cages by the ruckus Taurus was making. His swings had slowed, and as time went on, they became weaker and weaker. Natsu turned from him to glare at the angel in the clear glass. He hissed, exposing a large, gaping mouth with teeth that dripped red. His eyes were completely black, soulless, but filled with intensity as they stared Virgo down within her cage.

The angel moved to stand directly on the other side of the glass and then laid her hands against it. There was still a faint blue glow around her, but it was slowly fading.

"You can feel it, can't you?" As Virgo whispered to the beast in front of her, the others fell quiet as they moved to the back of their own enclosures. "You can feel her waiting for you, can't you? She's here. She's in danger and she needs you to help her. _Go find Lucy._ Save her, Natsu, and she can save you, too."

For the first time since he'd been separated from Gemini, Natsu felt something stir inside him. Something bright compared to the rest of the dark that filled him.

_Find her_.

_**Eat. Kill. Bend. Break**__._

_Safety. Warmth. _

_**Destroy. Hide. Eat. Fight.**_

_Protect. Find._

_**Chase. Hunt. Kill. **_

_Hold. Keep._

_**Kiiiiiilllllll.**_

Virgo saw the hesitation in his eyes. Saw the black lose some of its intensity. Suddenly, Natsu swung out and shattered the glass of three of the cages, cracking the rest. With a roar, he sank into his shadows once more and disappeared.

"Guards!" Zalanoon screamed.

Doors opened on either end of the empty room, but before they could even enter, the pair on the left were knocked off their feet by an invisible force.

"Not that way, you idiots!" Zalanoon stood, his anger palpable even from so far away, and the wall in front of him slid closed as he stormed off.

"I think it's time to move!" Virgo shouted as she continued to pull glass out of her skin. Mao and Rogue were still stuck, but the angels and Sting were free. Taurus wobbled as he tried to stay on his feet as the fog dispersed across the floor. Virgo moved to help him as Sting jumped free and charged the guards that were still standing.

Once she was sure Taurus could keep himself up, she moved forward to help Rogue break his glass. "Just a sliver and I can get out," he told her. Rather quickly, they managed to break open a small hole and he was able to escape using his shadows. By the time he reformed, Sting had finished with his guards, but the others had regained their feet.

"Go!" Rogue shoved Virgo towards Sting. "You two go find Lucy and Natsu. My guess is that's who knocked over the guards. I'll keep an eye on Taurus and help Mao get out, you two _go._"

"Are you sure?" Virgo asked.

"He's sure," Sting said as he grabbed her arm and pulled. It was no trouble at all for him to take out the other guards more permanently, and then the two were gone.

"Get me out!" Mao begged. "I have to get to Ova, get me out!"

Taurus shook his head a little and then raised his axe. "Stand back, I've got yooou."

Mao moved to the other side of his cage and then covered his head as the angel began to swing. Rogued moved to the edge of their viewing area and sent out his shadows. He carefully grabbed Ova's body to bring it up to them.

As he worked, more guards showed up so he moved to fight them as his shadows finished pulling the Leezar up and laid him on the floor. As he fought, he continued to run the same mantra through his head.

_They're going to be alright. They're going to come back safe. We're going to get out of this alive._

* * *

"Which way?" Virgo asked.

"Why are you asking me?" The pair looked down the other hallways as they paused in the intersection.

"What is that dragon nose for if you can't even sniff Natsu out?"

"He doesn't smell the same right now," Sting countered. "And they still have that smell dampening stuff up."

"He's been through here recently. Try to find him. From what I heard, the small dampening stuff is powerful, but not instantaneous. Just try, see if you can smell anything."

Sting sighed but closed his eyes to do as he was asked. Virgo lifted her hand and saw that the blue light had completely vanished. She had been able to feel Lucy below them somewhere, but she wasn't sure exactly where, or how to get there. They needed Sting to find the scent in order to find Natsu and Lucy. Once they did, Sting's cleanse spell would be able to remove whatever was in Natsu's body and bring him back to his regular self.

"I think I've got something. It's not familiar, but it smells dark and hot, so it's our best chance. Come on."

He grabbed her hand again and yanked them down the left hallway.

* * *

_Find. Warmth. _

_**Hunt. Kill. Eat.**_

_**Bathe in their blood.**_

_Keep close._

_**Chew on their bones.**_

_Protect. Defend. _

_**End them.**_

_Save her. _

His instincts drove him. Which ones he wasn't sure, but he knew which direction he wanted to go. He slid along the walls, across the minds of the people in the hallway, ignoring the screams he left behind. He didn't care about them.

He had to find it, the thing that called him.

He had to find _her._

When he finally found where he needed to be, when he finally saw her, eyes wide with fear as she stared at him, something inside him cracked. He felt moisture begin to fall down his face and the darkness inside of him began to swirl in ways that made him dizzy.

He stumbled as he moved her way. She didn't move away from him, but she didn't come closer either. There were tubes all around her, some dripping onto the floor, others covered in blood. Blood that continued to ooze slowly from holes in her arms. He growled as he saw the marks on her body and his focus returned as looked around, seeking the one who had put them in her.

Lucy barely breathed as the beast in front of her began to search the room they were in. His claws were at least a foot long, and razor sharp. His skin was a mixture of black and red, mostly covered in scales, and his horns had small fires glowing at their tips. His black eyes were bottomless pools, and even though there was no way to know, she was certain she could tell when they were focused on her.

His wings, large, leathery, and intimidating as hell, were mostly folded up behind his large body. Even hunched, he was at least eight feet tall, and the red liquid dripping from his mouth couldn't be anything else but blood. His tail was curled up behind him, its tip lit and burning more brightly than his horns. When he moved around her, it seemed to vibrate like a rattlesnake's, although it made no noise.

The hair, though.

That was the only thing that kept Lucy from being truly afraid.

This monstrous being, no matter how terrifying, wouldn't hurt her, she was sure of it. Natsu was in there, somewhere, and no matter what they had done to him, she knew that the dragon in him would not allow him to hurt her. It was that certainty, that belief, that had her sliding slowly off the table she was on and moving towards him.

The creature turned her way and growled quietly in his throat. He looked confused as he studied her.

Lucy smiled as she slowed her steps. "Hey big guy." She raised her hand, palm held forward and her fingers slightly curled. "What's a big beasty like you doing in a place like this?" she asked, her voice low and calm.

The creature continued to face her, but his eyes roamed the space around her. Lucy knew she was alone, so she didn't bother looking over her shoulder. "There's no one else here, I already checked. Although I'm not sure where here is, I know that I'm alone. At least I was, until you got here."

She continued to move towards him, her hand steady. When she was only a step away, she stopped and waited. "Did you come to find me?"

He didn't wait for more than a moment before he took the last step forward and sniffed her hand. He closed his eyes as he drew in a deep breath, his body so warm that she felt her hand heating up despite the distance. When he let his breath out, smoke and purring followed. He moved forward and leaned into her hand before slipping passed it and then nuzzling against her neck. He moved closer and his tail wrapped around her leg.

"Hey now, watch out, you're going to knock me over." The tail around her leg tightened, and one of his wings moved to support her from behind. "Alright big guy, you need to loosen that tail. It's too tight." She reached down and tugged at the appendage wrapped around her. "Just like that, okay? Gotta let the blood flow."

He pulled back a ways to look around the room again. "I told you, we're alone. I wouldn't lie to you about that."

When he turned back, Lucy wasn't surprised to find the bright gold eyes shining back at her. "There he is. My big strong protector." She ran her hands under his chin, causing his eyes to close again and his purr to grow louder. As she did, the black of his skin receded some, exposing more of the red scales. The fires on his tail and horns went out and they shrank, as did the size of his wings, exposing a much more dragon like creature.

"What are these tears for?" she asked as she carefully wiped away the wet trails that ran from the corners of his eyes. "There we go, that's better." She patted his nose. "So, do you know where we are?" When he did nothing to answer, she nodded. "I thought not." She continued to rub her hands over his scales, absorbing his heat to warm up her somewhat numb body.

"You know, I'm not necessarily opposed to this side of you." His eyes flashed open and focused on her. His purring stopped and his entire being stilled as he focused on her. "I like this side, to be honest. You may keep coming out at inconvenient times, but I still like you."

The dragon lifted his head and rubbed the underside of his chin on her until she lifted her hands to rub it on her own.

"You know that, right? It's flattering, to be honest, that you like me so much. But you really should learn how to hold yourself back a bit."

He growled as he lowered his head and his other wing moved so that she was completely surrounded by him. The heat coming off his body was almost suffocating like this, but she didn't mind.

"I'm not saying you should do it forever, but I want the rest of Natsu to feel the same as you do. Do you think you could do me a favor and let the rest of him catch up? He has no idea what you want, and the more you interfere, the harder it is for him to figure everything out."

Lucy blinked a few times, surprised by her own words. Even though she wanted to take them back, she didn't think she could. She meant them. She already knew she wanted Natsu to like her, to _want_ her, but realizing that she wanted him to care for her in the way his dragon did, as a mate, was a bit of a surprise. It seemed that she could be more honest with his dragon than she could with herself. The thought made her smile.

The beast stared down at her, his golden eyes warm. Lucy couldn't believe that she was actually having a conversation with Natsu's inner dragon, but who else would be looking at her in that way? It had to be the dragon, and since he was here, and listening, she was going to make sure she said her piece, before using him to get the hell out of wherever they were.

"Please? I need you to be patient and work with me. And him. I can't get the rest of him on the same page if you keep butting in, you understand? I need you to keep yourself out of the way or find a way to not take over when you visit me. Once the rest of him likes me as much as you do, then you can both have me, and that's what you want, right?"

The dragon rubbed against the side of her head a couple times, as he made a low noise in his throat. She decided to take that as a yes as she sighed and hugged his head to her. "So you're going to behave and give me some time to work things out with him, right?"

The beast whined a little and then curled around her so that every single inch of her was touching some part of him. When the whine stopped and became a purr, she knew she'd won.

"I appreciate that. Thank you." She rubbed at his scales with her somewhat free hand.

"Now that that's out of the way, do you think you can help me get out of here?"


	51. Chapter 51

**I'm glad you guys enjoyed last chapter! I've been waiting for the right time to have his dragon come out and have a conversation of sorts with Lucy and that was **_**perfect**_**. I had written more than one scene when I remembered that someone in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series has the same kind of issue. The Brother Rhage is my second favorite brother and he has a similar thing going on with an inner beast that wants to get close to his mate. If you're into SciFi romance with vampires that don't have to eat people and don't f***ing sparkle in the sun, I highly recommend it, but only if you're not opposed to sex scenes.**

*****Remember, if you want the chance to make a request for something to be put in this story, please leave a review on **_**Chapter 47**_**. Today is the last day! Tomorrow (Sunday) I will be randomly choosing one of you, probably by a dice roll, and sending you a message, so be on the lookout! **

**As always, thanks for the love, and happy reading!**

* * *

"Hold on big guy, I'm slipping!" Lucy tried to adjust her position within Natsu's arms as he continued to make his way down the hallway. He was hunched over to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling and using his wings to help keep himself upright. Once Lucy could see over Natsu's arms again, she stopped wiggling. "Do you know where the others are?"

Lucy squinted up at him when the beast just huffed. "You know Natsu wouldn't want to leave our companions behind here. Please? I need you to take me to them."

Again, the beast huffed and whined, but he adjusted his course. He jerked to a stop at one of the intersections and leaned against the wall. Footsteps echoed off the walls, and as a pair of people rounded the corner, the dragon swung at them.

Virgo ducked the wing, avoiding being hit, and Sting jumped over it as he sent out a blast of light. Natsu's other wing intercepted the shot and then he roared as he moved forward to attack.

"Woah, big guy, wait!" Lucy wiggled out of the creature's loosened grip and grabbed onto his face to stop him. His eyes were fully black again, but as they focused on Lucy, she didn't flinch. "That's a friend, remember? He didn't mean to attack you, you just scared him. Calm down now, alright?" She continued to rub his nose until his eyes faded back to a bright gold.

"Lucy, what the hell are you doing out here?" Sting asked, his fists up, ready to defend himself.

"Natsu came to find me. I was alone in whatever room I was in when I woke up, and by the time I got all the needles out of me, he had shown up."

"Lucy, that's not Natsu right now," Virgo said quietly.

"I know that. It's his inner dragon."

"His… inner dragon?"

"Yeah." Lucy continued to give her attention to the dragon, who was watching the other two carefully. "It's the bonded dragon inside Natsu that sometimes comes out to see me. He's being more cooperative today, though. Not sure why."

"_Bonded_?" Sting whispered in disbelief.

Suddenly, Lucy stopped petting the beast and slowly turned around. She'd never seen the blond before, and while the woman looked like Manda, she didn't know for sure if it was her. And these other people she knew were running around somewhere… "Wait a minute… how do I know you guys are friends?"

"The spell I used to wake you up gave you basic knowledge of our rescue team so you would know that we're here to help," Virgo answered.

"The… spell?" Virgo nodded. "Huh." Lucy's hand began to move again, ignoring the way the dragon had wrapped his tail around her leg once more. "Well, if I can believe that a dragon-demon hybrid has somehow bonded with me, I suppose I can believe that you have magic."

"I'm glad, because we don't have a lot of time. We need to return to the others and get out of here before Zalanoon or his minions find us."

Sting leaned toward Virgo. "Why is she being so accepting about all of this? Is she in shock?"

"Probably," Virgo whispered. "Just go with it. Sting," she said louder, "can you do the cleansing spell here?"

Sting glanced around. "We should wait until we get back, so we're not so exposed."

"Very well. Let's go," Virgo said.

Before Lucy could ask who Zalanoon was, or even where they were, the pair had turned around and run off. "Alright big guy, mind giving me a ride? Let's follow them." The dragon grunted and then picked her up again before following the pair down the hall.

It took some time, but after a couple of wrong turns, and a few errant guards, they returned to the room where they'd been stuck in cages. Virgo stopped Lucy and the dragon from entering. "He should stay out here. Mao isn't going to be very friendly to him right now."

The dragon growled but Lucy moved to keep him from going after the pink haired woman. "I don't know what that means. Did he do something wrong?"

Virgo hesitated, but Sting jumped in with the answer. "He killed one of the other members of our rescue party. That one's mate is still alive in there. You should come in, but he needs to stay out here."

Obviously upset with that assessment, the dragon wrapped his tail around her and put both of his wings in front of her, leaving only her head exposed to the others. Lucy sighed but turned his way and held onto his face as she spoke to him. "Give me just a minute, okay? You stay here and guard the door. You'll be plenty close if I need you, I just need to go inside quick. You'll be okay waiting, I promise."

He continued to grumble, but after a few more reassurances, he laid down with his nose pointed towards the door.

"That's… both amazing and terrifying. Come on, now that we have you both, it's time to get the others and leave." Sting yanked open the door and led Virgo and Lucy inside.

When they entered, they found Taurus, still in his angel form, and Rogue bent over a body and Mao standing at the edge of the room with his hands raised and held out towards the empty colosseum. He appeared to be chanting and there were several circles below his feet that were spinning in different directions and at different speeds.

"We're glad you're back," Taurus said as he stood. "We need to get out of here, pronto."

"What's he doing?" Sting asked with a nod towards the chanting Leezar.

"He's summoning something, I guess. I didn't ask questions." Taurus looked down. "It seems Leezars are much sturdier than they look. Rogue has managed to slow Ova's bleeding, but if we don't get out of here soon and have him looked at, he might still die."

"He's not dead?" Virgo asked in surprise. She moved to kneel next to the Leezar.

"Not yet, but we need to hurry," Rogue answered. He traded his hands for Virgo's and went to stand next to Mao. As he studied the circles, he frowned. "I don't recognize this spell, so I don't know how long it will take to complete, but we should leave as soon as he is done. I would suggest having Virgo make two trips, but that will be impossible with how low she is on magic."

"You shouldn't underestimate my abilities," Virgo said.

"You've fallen more than once because of how low you are, and passed out twice. I don't want to risk you being unable to return."

"Well, in the meantime, I think you should come help me," Sting said.

"Help you with what?" Rogue asked.

"Cleansing Natsu."

Rogue frowned. "I'm not so sure we'll be able to get close enough to him to do that, not to mention we still have to find him."

"We already did, and as long as Lucy is there, we'll be fine. She's managed to tame him, for the most part."

"You should do that on your own," Virgo said. "I need Rogue to do something else."

"What is it?" the hybrid asked.

"You need to retrieve Natsu's scarf. From what I saw, Zalanoon was more interested in fixing this mess and less in taking it with him when he left his chair. It should still be over there, and you're the best at sneaking around. Can you get to it and bring it back here? I can help Sting."

"_I_ will help Sting," Taurus corrected her. "Yooou need to rest. I can amplify his spell just fine. Stay here and keep an eye on these two while we take care of things."

Virgo nodded. "You're probably right. I'll stay here, just be quick."

Rogue nodded and then disappeared into his shadows.

Taurus looked at Virgo. "How long will it take him to find it?"

"I don't think it will be more than five or ten minutes. He should be able to sense us here and can use that to triangulate his position."

"Alright, should we get out there and get Natsu fixed up? I'd rather he wasn't in that crazy demon form any longer than he needs to be." Sting was bouncing on the balls of his feet, obviously restless.

Taurus nodded. "Let's go. Luuucy, we'll need your help, too. If you can keep him calm, that will be for the best."

"You got it," Lucy said. As she followed them towards the door, she had the strangest feeling that she'd met Taurus before, but she wasn't sure why. She paused behind them as Sting began to open the door, and in a blink found herself several feet away, being held back by the giant angel.

"What-"

"Stay back," Taurus said. "He's out there."

Sting had moved to stand a few paces away as well, his hands lit and his body coated in white scales. "I don't like this. I can sense that Natsu is still out th-"

With a loud crack and a cloud of dust, the wall in front them of them was ripped away to reveal a smiling Zalanoon and Natsu, growling and drooling in his mostly black skinned form.

"What did he do to Natsu?" Lucy asked. Natsu was standing just behind the demon, poised and ready to strike.

"He was given a potion that turned off his cognitive functions. He's only acting on his instincts as a demon right now, so he's very dangerous to be around."

"I'll watch over her." Virgo had moved to join the pair. A pale pink ball of light was glowing just over Ova's body, right over the rag pressed against his wounds. "Sting will need your help Taurus."

Taurus nodded and then moved forward to stand near Sting. Lucy finally noticed the other person in the room, standing near a drop off from the room and chatting quietly to himself. _What is he doing?_

"Ah, it's so good to see that you're all still here!" Zalanoon said as he moved a couple paces forward.

Lucy's stomach tied itself into knots as she watched the demon speak. He seemed pleasant enough but every ounce of her being wanted to get as far away from him as possible. "Wait… what does he mean by pet?"

"He's controlling Natsu," Virgo answered. "We need to find a way to get Sting close enough to him to cleanse him before he can attack us. Which will be difficult considering his abilities."

"I can stop him." Lucy tried to pull away from the pink haired woman. "Please, I can stop him, just let me go."

"You're the one person we can't risk getting hurt," Virgo said as she held the blonde back.

Zalanoon began to walk around. "You know, I have to thank you. All of you. It would have been a little more fun using my arena some more, but watching him dispose of you all at the same time might be even better."

Lucy continued to struggle. "Please, let me-"

"I _can't_," Virgo said as she wrapped her arm tight around Lucy's waist.

Zalanoon grinned. "At any rate, thank you for the entertainment. Life around here can get rather dull, and you lot spiced it up a bit for me. It's too bad you won't be around to experience the realms put back together. I think it's going to be a rather good time." He turned towards the still growling beast at his side. "Natsu-"

"I'm sorry," Lucy said as she pulled her arm forward.

"-end them."

As Zalanoon finished speaking, Lucy rammed her elbow into Virgo's stomach. The force shocked the angel, who loosened her hold, allowing Lucy to break free. Before she could move more than a couple feet, terror, cold and suffocating, filled her entire body. She dropped to the ground as her body contorted, trying to escape the feeling building up inside her.

Zalanoon's grin faded as he saw his formerly employed scientist still on his feet. He seemed to be channeling some spell, and although he was curled on himself, he continued to chant in a low voice. The other hybrid and Taurus were both on their hands and knees, fighting to regain their feet, but it seemed the Leezar was the one least impacted by Natsu's magic.

"Natsu, start with that one," the demon said as he nodded toward the Leezar.

Natsu turned his head and stared down the blue man. Slowly, Mao bent further and further into himself, and his speech became forced as he dropped to his knees.

Natsu stalked forward slowly as his prey finally began to succumb to his magic. Blood dripped down his chest as he panted and moved over the other, prone bodies. As he passed by the pink haired angel, who was curled over another body, a blue light flashed, distracting him.

When he turned his head, he saw nothing amiss. Screams and grunts still echoed around him, but something had changed, he sensed it. He sniffed the air as he began to look around, searching for the cause of the light.

"Natsu…."

That voice.

Natsu looked around, desperately seeking the voice. It had been quiet, so quiet he'd almost missed it, but a large part of him latched on to that voice and sought it with a ferocity that surpassed any hunt he'd ever done before.

Behind Zalanoon.

His eyes zeroed in on the half of the person he could see standing several paces behind his master, half behind a wall.

No, the demon wasn't his master. She was. He'd do anything she asked him to, no matter what it was or what it cost.

When his eyes returned to Zalanoon, anger, hot and thick, coursed through his veins once more. _This _was his master, and he'd been given an order. He began to turn, but his eyes caught hers again, and everything in him yearned to move her way, to hold her and keep her safe. The tug of war began to make his head hurt and he cried out as he curled in on himself.

As those previously under his terror spell were released, they tried to catch their breath as Zalanoon moved towards Natsu with a murderous expression. "Did I hesitate, you stupid beast? Get them!"

Natsu continued to grunt and whine as he rubbed his head against the ground. His cries increased as he scratched at his head, trying to remove whatever was causing him pain. Zalanoon held out his hand towards the others to immobilize them as they began to stand. "Have you gone deaf? I said _end them_."

Natsu shook his head and looked up at Zalanoon. The demon sneered. "Finish them off, or I'll be forced to show you why you should never disobey me."

The longer Natsu focused on Zalanoon, the more his expression hardened. He began to growl again, and the blood slowly dripped down his chin once more.

Zalanoon stood up straight, a smile slowly overtaking his face. "That's better. Now take care of them."

"No!"

Both Natsu and Zalanoon whipped around to stare at Lucy as she fully entered the hallway. Virgo, who had finally managed to raise her head a little, felt her stomach twist and dread fill her veins. "No…" she whispered before glancing down at the body under her. Lucy was still under her, but in the hallway as well? How was that possible?

"Natsu, don't hurt them," Lucy begged as she glanced between him and the black skinned demon. She wanted to move closer to Natsu, but she knew she couldn't risk getting closer to the demon at his side. "Please, this isn't you. You don't want to hurt them, I know you don't."

"Ah, Miss Lucy, you don't know what he wants. He wants to do what I tell him to." He frowned as he studied her. "What are you doing out and about? I don't recall giving the go ahead to release you."

Lucy ignored him. "Please, Natsu. Please. We need you to help us get out. _I _need you to help me get out, and you want to protect me, right?"

A golden ring appeared on the edges of Natsu's eyes, expanding slowly as she spoke. If she could just get his inner dragon out, she could save the others. That had to be the key. If Natsu could fight the others on his own, then he could take on the other guy, right?

"Natsu, listen to me, this isn't you. This isn't what you want. You want to save these people, so we can all get out of here and go home. Right?"

"Enough of this." Zalanoon waved his hand at her. "Collect her. We don't have enough blood yet, so you can't kill her, but feel free to cut her up a little."

Natsu's golden gaze swung his way and he growled as he swung at Zalanoon. The demon was not expecting the attack, so two of the claws managed to hit skin as he jumped away. Blood splattered the stone at his feet as he turned Natsu's way and glared. "That was foolish." He swiped his hand through the air and sent Natsu flying through the wall behind him.

As the angels and Sting continued to try and stand, Zalanoon turned and sighed. "Well, it looks like I'll be the one punishing you. Honestly, finding good help is so hard here."

He raised his hand, and before she could even take a step, a ball of black came flying right at her.

* * *

**Mao and Ova are loosely based on a pair of blue lizard looking folks I made for a D&D game a while ago, and I could never kill off those glorious buddies, so I can't kill off these ones either. It was fun to let you guys worry for a bit though.**


	52. Chapter 52

**The dice have spoken and I messaged our winner yesterday! For those who weren't chosen, I still appreciate your love, and for anyone who'd still like to share their ideas, feel free to PM them to me! I can't guarantee I'll add them, but if I do, the credit is all yours and I will be sure to give you a shoutout in the A/N!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Everything around Lucy slowed down as that orb came towards her. She looked behind it where Zalanoon stood, smiling. She could feel the evil intent coming from him as the black magic flew at her. He didn't want to kill her, but he obviously wasn't opposed to causing her pain.

This was going to hurt.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the magic collide with her. After a beat, when nothing had happened, Zalanoon spoke again.

"That was foolish, demon."

Lucy opened her eyes and looked up to find a fully red dragon form of Natsu standing between her and Zalanoon. His tail wrapped around her tightly and then pulled her close. With his wings up, she was completely obscured from view.

"Strange." Zalanoon moved a few steps to the side, his focus removed from the people behind him, although his spell continued to keep them down. "You've managed to shake off the effects of the potion. I can still sense it in your system, but it appears to have lost its hold on you. How strange. Miss Heartfilia," he called. "How exactly have you managed to cause such an effect on Mr. Dragneel?"

Natsu pulled Lucy even closer as he roared at Zalanoon in response to his question. Zalanoon sighed. "Well, this is unexpected. I was rather hoping to not have to deal with the angels on my own."

"Was this… any more expected," Mao's strangled voice asked, and then he cried out as a cacophony of sounds echoed off the walls around them. After a bright flash, a guttural roar sounded from the open colosseum in front of him. Somehow, the Leezar had managed to continue casting his spell through both Natsu and Zalanoon's own, and as he fell to his knees panting, his efforts were revealed to the others. A large being, made of molten lava and at least half the size of the colosseum towered over them, with large limbs that slowly slithered around its body.

Mao called out to the beast, in a strange language the others could not understand.

"_Great G'hia'aniovial_," Mao yelled. "_I have asked you here to help me seek revenge on those who have wronged me and my beloved. An ally, against his will, was forced to hurt my mate and the one who orchestrated the attack seeks to bring harm to the other realms as well. Will you accept my request and aid us in ridding this world of the demon who seeks to harm us all?"_

Another roar was the monster's answer as the tentacle like limbs began to dig through the walls. Mao smiled as he allowed himself to finish collapsing and a long thin tentacle from the monster slithered into the room and headed straight for Zalanoon.

The demon frowned. "I don't know what you think you've done, but that thing can't even scratch me." He waved his hand in front of himself, creating an opaque barrier. When the tentacle reached the barrier, it slammed right through with little effort before continuing its chase. Zalanoon frowned and then disappeared with another wave of his hand. The lava limb stopped and then quickly retracted.

"So what… just happened?" Sting panted as the pressure holding them down disappeared with Zalanoon's retreat.

"We can leave Zalanoon to the G'hia'aniovial," Mao said as he slowly sat up. "Let's leave so that it can finish destroying this place without worrying about accidentally getting us."

Sting's eyes widened. "But what about-"

"What is the _hell_ is that thing?!" Rogue appeared in the middle of the room, his cloak smoking. He pulled off the garment and beat it against the floor, making sure it wasn't still on fire. "There is lava all over in the hallways, how in the realms is that happening?!"

Sting pointed at the sitting Leezar and Virgo finally sat up and pulled Lucy up with her. "My question is how you're in two places at once," Virgo asked the blonde.

Natsu blinked and then turned to look behind him at the Lucy he had wrapped in his tail. When he turned towards the other, he growled and lowered his wings as he tried to threaten the imposter. The real Lucy's eyes widened as she looked at her copy, sitting serenely at Virgo's side.

"Piri." The Lucy on the floor disappeared with a pop to reveal the smaller forms of Gemini.

"Gemi, Mini, you're supposed to be guarding Lucy's place," Taurus said.

"PIri," they answered.

"We knew we'd be more help here," Gemi said.

"So we followed you," Mini finished.

"That was foolish," Virgo said. "You're lucky no one caught you."

"Natsu did, but then he was taken," Gemi said.

"Sucked right into the floor," Mini added.

"It seems like he's stuck right now though," they said.

The dragon had completely forgotten about the others as he released Lucy and wrapped himself around her once more with his body. He was whining a little as he bumped her with his nose to check her over.

"I'm fine, big guy," Lucy said as she chuckled. "Just calm down."

"I don't understand, Gemini. Was it _you_ that found Natsu?"

"No, that was Lucy," Gemi said. "We traded with her after Natsu started his spell. We knew he didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't see her under you, so we switched places."

"We knew she could stop Natsu if we did," Mini said. "And we finally figured out how to switch places with someone once we've copied their body, so we did it!"

"Well, it saved our asses," Sting said, "but now that we're reasonably safe, the lava monster aside, can we get Natsu fixed up and leave?"

"Let's do it," Rogue said as he moved to join the blond.

"But didn't Zalanoon say that the stuff in Natsu's system wasn't affecting him anymore?" Taurus asked as he finally regained his feet.

"It's only the mental hold that has been released," Mini corrected.

"Yep. We still have to remove the potion from his body so he can return to his humanoid form," Gemi finished.

Sting clapped his hands together. "Well then, let's do it and get the hell out of here." He and Rogue moved towards the dragon, where he had curled up around Lucy. "Lucy, you think you can keep him still for a little bit?"

Natsu looked up at their voices and his lips raised to expose his teeth as he growled in response. Lucy pulled his face towards her. "Hey now, you have nothing to whine about. You know as well as I do that you need their help. You and I will still see each other, even if you're not in this form. You just focus on me and let them work, okay?"

Natsu's whine was deafening for a while, but then he let himself flop on the ground. He grumbled as he wrapped one of his arms around Lucy and pulled her down in a sitting position so he could rest his head in her lap.

Lucy smiled as she began to run her hands over his hide. "Go ahead," she told the pair of hybrids.

Rogue and Sting moved forward and held their hands over Natsu's body. Their hands began to glow as they started to quietly chant.

Behind them, Virgo had returned to Ova's side, where Mao sat holding one of his mate's hands. "Can you really save him?" Mao asked quietly.

"We're going to do our best," Virgo promised.

"Guys, what's happening?" Lucy's voice drew their attention towards Natsu, who had begun to glow a faint red. Natsu turned to look down at his body in confusion. Suddenly, he yanked away from the pair and started to roar.

Lucy frantically grabbed at his face. "Hey hey hey, big guy calm down. You're okay."

"What's going on?" Taurus asked.

Rogue and Sting were sweating as they continued to channel their spell. "It's resisting somehow," Sting said between clenched teeth.

"How can a potion resist?" Virgo asked.

"No idea," Rogue grunted, "but it's not helping that he isn't holding still."

Lucy was trying to get Natsu's attention but the pain he was in was making him writhe too much for her to get close. He was clawing at his scales, groaning and roaring as he made himself bleed. "Natsu, stop hurting yourself!"

He whipped around and his tail nearly knocked Lucy off her feet. She looked around at the others. "What can I do?"

Taurus set down his axe and then moved forward. He dodged the swinging tail and wings as he tried to get closer, waiting for a good moment to strike. When Natsu paused with his head turned their way, the angel dashed forward and grabbed him around his neck to try and pin him down.

This angered Natsu so much he thrashed around even more. He swung his neck hard and flung the angel through the wall. He stepped back even farther from Sting and Rogue and roared.

Since he was finally still, Lucy ran forward, around his tail and under his wings, to throw her arms around his nose. He reared back and lifted his head, leaving Lucy dangling in the air.

"Easy big guy, it's just me," she said as she tightened her hold. She couldn't reach all the way around to interlock her hands, so she had to trust that he wouldn't throw her off or wiggle too much. His eyes were on her, though, so she kept talking. "Hey, I know it hurts, but they're trying to help okay? You just have to stay calm and give them time. Let me help you."

Natsu whined and groaned, but his struggling had stopped. He closed his eyes as he laid down again. Lucy didn't have time to stand before he was worming his head under her body, his distressed noises continuing to increase in volume.

Taurus pulled himself out of the wall and shook off the dust from his fur. Once he was done, he moved forward and put a hand on Sting and Rogue's shoulders. His hands began to glow, which caused the hybrids' hands to glow even brighter. "I'll help you guys get this done sooner."

Natsu's roars became louder as the spells they were casting increased in power. Lucy continued to rub his hide and talk to him, trying to help distract him as much as she could. When he suddenly yanked away from her and wailed, she was forced to cover her ears.

There was a blast of hot air and then Lucy, along with Sting, Rogue, and Taurus, were all flung away from him. Lucy smacked into a wall hard, but she worked on standing up again almost as soon as she stopped moving, trying to get to Natsu. He had shrunk down a lot, but he was still in his red dragon form. When she managed to reach him again, she put her hand just over his nose, only relaxing once she could feel his hot breath on her palm.

"Here." Lucy looked up to find Rogue, covered in dust, standing next to her with Natsu's scarf in his hand. "You should put this back on him. It will help."

"Thank you," she said. She grabbed the garment and wrapped it around Natsu's neck as the others retreated.

"Are we ready to leave, then?" Virgo had pulled off her apron and added it to the bloody rag over Ova's wounds.

Taurus nodded. "I think so. Do you need Natsu closer?"

"No, I can do it from here." Virgo took a couple deep breaths, and then circles began to appear on the floor, under each pair of feet. Two larger ones formed under Ova and Natsu, and once they were done, Virgo raised a hand and they began to fly through that familiar black space.

Their landing this time was much softer, since they weren't being forced through. Once they had landed, Virgo rose and spoke to Gemini. "Taurus and I can watch everything here for now. I need Horologium here immediately. Can you go find him?"

"Piri!" In a flash, the twins vanished.

"Taurus, can you go put Natsu on his bed? We'll need to wake him and speak to him before we leave, but for now he should rest."

"Yooou got it," the angel responded before moving to collect the passed out hybrid.

"Do you guys still need us?" Sting asked.

Virgo glanced at the Leezars and Lucy. "No, I think we can handle the rest of this on our own. Do you need anything from us before you go back?"

Rogue shook his head as Sting grinned. "Natsu knows what we want. We'll collect later." With that, Rogue put a hand on his shoulder and the pair melted into the shadows.

There was another pop and Gemini returned. "Here he is!" they said.

"I'm sorry I did not sense that you needed my assistance," the angel said as he bowed. He had the body of a tall grandfather clock, with thin arms and legs, and a face mixed in with his clock face.

"It's okay," Virgo said. "I expect it was because we were in the Dark. That place has always messed with our powers."

"I assume you'd like me to tend to the injured one?"

"Yes," Virgo answered. "Just until we can figure something else out. There aren't any angels that are particularly good at healing wounds like this one, so in the meantime I'd like you to maintain his current state."

"Will do." With a small poof, Ova disappeared and then reappeared curled up within the empty confines of Horologium's body.

"What is he doing?" Mao asked.

The clock answered. "I am preserving this gentleman until he can be properly cared for. While he is inside of me, his time will remain frozen, so he will not perish while he is in my care."

"He can't stay in there forever, though, and he won't heal without some help." Virgo folded her hands in her lap as she looked Mao's way. "Do you know anyone that could help?"

"There was a scientist in Zalanoon's employ that was gifted with some healing, but even if we could get to him, he wouldn't help now that we've gone rogue, and he didn't have the ability to fix something like that."

"We could ask Happy," Lucy said.

Virgo turned towards her charge. Lucy hadn't moved from where she'd reappeared, even though Natsu was no longer holding her down. "Who is Happy?"

"Happy is the Exceed that came with Natsu. He's back in the demon realm right now, but I can summon him back here and we could ask him if there are any demons that are any good with that sort of thing. I don't know all the magics that demons can have, but Natsu once used healing magic on my arm when I burned it on the stove. I'm guessing there's probably someone over there that is strong enough for this kind of thing."

"That's an excellent idea," Virgo said. "Can you summon him now?"

"Sure." Lucy stood and moved towards her desk to grab the things she would need.

Virgo watched her, wondering if all of the weird would hit Lucy before she could finish getting things sorted out, and hoped that it wouldn't. A little longer, and she could take all of this from her memories and protect Leo's secret.

"There." Lucy sat back, and a moment later, Happy appeared.

"Hey Lucy, is it already-" Happy looked around the room. "Lucy? What's going on?"

"That's kind of a long story, but I have to ask something first. Do you know of any demons or anything from your world that are really good at healing magic that might be willing to come here and help us? I'll make some sort of contract if I have to again, but we could really use a helping hand."

"I do actually," Happy said. "Who needs help?"

"My mate," Mao spoke up. He was sitting right next to Horologium, his hand pressed against the glass to be close to the sleeping Leezar. "He was attacked and he's in really bad shape. Could you please bring them here so they can save him?"

Happy slowly nodded as he looked around the room. "I'm sure she'd be willing to help. Lucy?" he added in a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"This doesn't look like a Christmas party."

"It's not." Lucy sighed. "Is it okay if we talk about what happened later?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Do you have clean paper? I'll draw her symbol so you can summon her. And don't worry about a contract," Happy said as he started to draw. "She'll help for free, since you're Natsu's friend. Where is he, by the way?"

"Sleeping," Taurus answered as he entered the room. He'd folded his wings back into his body, but the rest of him hadn't reverted back to his humanoid form yet. "Who are you?"

"I'm Happy, Natsu's friend."

Lucy briefly explained to Taurus about the Exceed while Happy finished drawing. Once Lucy had copied the picture, Wendy appeared with a smile. "Hello Lucy!"

Lucy blinked and then blinked again. "Wait a minute. Wendy?"

"I'm glad you remembered! What can I do for you?"

The blonde did nothing more than open and close her mouth as she stared at the small hybrid. "We need your help," Virgo answered, drawing Wendy's attention. "We need your healing magic to help a friend."

When Wendy finally noticed Ova inside Horologium, there was some explanation required about how one became caught in the other, but once it was fully explained, she helped to remove him and lay him on the floor. "Don't worry, I can fix this right up. Just leave it to me."

Virgo looked up at Mao. "So, care to tell me what you did back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"That thing you summoned. What was it? I've never seen it before or even heard about such a creature existing."

Mao sighed. "The G'hia'aniovial isn't a creature. It's a manifestation of angry thoughts and capable of enacting revenge on a level equal to whatever wrong has been committed. I used to think that he was a work of fiction, just something made up to scare kids at night. I read through a book once with chants that could summon the old beings, but we always thought they were fake.

"I have perfect recall on random things I've read, which isn't very helpful since I never know if I'm going to remember what I read word for word, or completely forget everything, but I remembered that."

"How did you know it was going to show up?"

Mao looked away. "Because… I've summoned it before."

Virgo sat quietly as she waited for him to continue.

"I… I summoned it after Ova and I were banished to the Dark. I sent it back to our realm to get revenge on the people who banished us for…" Tears began to fall from his eyes as he looked at his mate once more. "For banishing us for loving each other."

As Virgo and Mao spoke, Wendy continued to heal Ova. Happy, still somewhat confused returned his attention to Lucy, who was still staring. "Lucy? You okay?"

"I… I don't know." The corners of her mouth twitched a little, and then she began to smile. "This is just… this is all so crazy. I think it's finally hitting me how weird today has been. I was kidnapped, I think, by someone who wanted my blood I guess? And then there was that thing with Natsu beforehand, and then seeing Natsu as a demon type thing, and then his dragon form, not to mention that lava monster, and now there's this little powwow of magic people in my living room." She began to chuckle. "It's all kind of crazy, right?"

The longer she laughed, the louder she got. Happy tried talking to her, but she just kept laughing harder and harder. When the sounds started to become hysterical, Taurus glanced Virgo's way. "We should do it now," he said.

"I know." Virgo made her way to Lucy and turned her chair.

Lucy opened her eyes, but then laughed even harder. "And then you! Manda… _you're _magic, too!"

Virgo sighed. "I'm sorry about this, Lucy."

"Sorry… about… what?" Lucy asked between laughs. She opened her eyes in time to see Virgo place her hand on her forehead.

And then everything went black.


	53. Chapter 53

**Don't worry, you guys aren't the only ones unhappy with the memory wipe.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Natsu continued to pace the hallway as Lucy slept peacefully in her room. Virgo had been gone for hours, but he still couldn't wrap his head around everything. Lucy had been kidnapped by Zalanoon's minions _again_. Not only that, they'd managed to somehow pull his demon side out and use it to hurt his allies. And that _Lucy_ had risked herself to somehow pull his dragon side to the forefront of his mind.

Just the thought of it made him crazy. He was glad he couldn't remember it.

Not only that, they didn't even know for sure if they'd gotten the bastard! Whatever magical mythical being the Leezar had summoned had disappeared before the angels could return to the Dark to check. They had found evidence of bodies in the leftover rubble, but there was no way to know whose, even with magic, because of how thoroughly they'd been burned.

The thing he wondered about most was how Lucy had managed to help his dragon blood overcome the demon. He'd had one incident in the past where his demon side had taken over and it had taken a great deal to pull him back out, which was why he was so careful about keeping his scarf on him. Going too long without it risked his mean side coming out and he didn't want to be that kind of demon. While he embraced his dragon blood, good and bad, he hated the entirety of his demon heritage.

Besides that, he hadn't even begun to try and process what had happened _before _she was taken. The moment they'd shared, the kissing that had nearly happened before she'd been ripped away. That felt like a whole lot to unload and he was pretty sure he was too fried to think about it, but knew he should.

He paused outside her door once more, holding his breath until he had listened to her soft, even breath for a full ten seconds. Even such a short time had him feeling much more relaxed, so he slid silently into the shadows of her room to stand next to her bed and continue to listen.

He felt his inner presence enter the edges of his mind. It didn't try to overpower him this time; instead it seemed to share the space with him so it could listen too.

_I wish I could talk to you_, Natsu thought. _It would be nice to know who or what you are._

He didn't receive a response, not that he was expecting one, but he had a strange feeling that it had heard and understood him. The presence continued to remain just barely there, content it seemed to use Natsu's senses to observe.

Natsu noticed that with that additional strange presence, his desire to get close to Lucy had at least tripled. She looked so warm and inviting curled up in her bed that he wanted to slide under the covers and join her.

He wondered for a long time if he could manage to do so without waking her, which was silly. He was a supremely stealthy person when he wanted to be.

Decision made, Natsu adjusted his clothing so he was just wearing a comfortable pair of shorts and his scarf before sliding silently into the bed. He wiggled one arm under her pillow and then wrapped the other around her waist as he pulled his body flush with her back and legs.

Her bed was extremely comfortable, so much nicer than any other he'd been on, and the fact that the entire thing smelled like her just made it even better. As he worked on getting comfortable, he couldn't stop himself from burying his nose into her hair. It was intoxicating being this close to her, even if she was asleep.

He had planned on just laying beside her for a bit to calm down, but after a while he found himself drifting off. As he fell asleep, he thought he felt the now familiar fade, but before he could think too hard about it, he was out cold.

* * *

When Lucy awoke, the first thing she was aware of was how warm she was. During the winter, she often had trouble staying warm enough while she slept, but that was certainly not the case this particular morning. She sighed and tried to roll over but found that she was unable to move. There were two legs wrapped up in her own and an arm wrapped tightly around her middle.

She felt her heartbeat start to race as she realized that there was a hand wrapped around one breast. She could hear soft snores coming from somewhere near the top of her head and hot breath fanning across her hair. Lucy tried to remember what she had done before coming to bed, but all she could seem to remember was a brief conversation with Natsu, about what she couldn't remember, and then tripping when she left the kitchen. What had happened after that?

She appeared to still be in the clothes she'd worn to work, and Natsu appeared to be at least wearing bottoms. Lucy sighed. At least she hadn't slept with him and forgotten. That would have been terrible.

Slowly, Lucy began to twist in his arms to face Natsu. When she'd finally managed to make it on to her back, she turned her head to she could finally see him. His hair was sticky up even more than usual, and there was a thing trail of drool from the corner of his parted lips down to the edge of her pillow.

Lucy attempted to remove his hand carefully from her breast, but as soon as her fingers slid around his, his eyes flashed open. Bright gold irises were exposed and as they looked at her, they widened. He looked panicked as he looked down to where his hand was and then up again. After he slid his hand down to her stomach, he closed his eyes again and the emotion faded from his face.

"Natsu?"

His breathing grew louder and then he slowly stretched out his body. When his eyes opened again, the gold had faded to a thin outer circle. "Good morning, Luce." His voice was low and rough from sleep and completely lacking any worry.

Lucy wondered for a moment if she still saw some of his other side's panic, but decided to ignore it for now. As long as Natsu was still in control, she didn't see a reason to acknowledge it. "Good morning. Um, why are you in here?"

Natsu blinked slowly as he looked around them. The longer he looked, the more his eyes widened. He suddenly pulled his arm away and then scrambled to unwrap himself from her blankets. "I'm so sorry Lucy. I didn't mean… I was just trying to keep an eye on you. I didn't mean to stay or… nothing happened I was just… oof!"

Lucy flinched as Natsu fell off the bed, pulling both the sheet and blanket with him. She moved towards the edge of the bed and looked down at him. "You're rather flustered this morning," she pointed out.

Now that she thought about it, why wasn't she more upset? She'd lost time again. She was getting rather tired of it…

"I'm sorry I was just…" His eyes snagged just below her neck before he shook his head and looked away. "I was just trying to keep an eye on you."

"Why?" she asked. When she looked down, she saw that her shirt had been pulled down in the struggle, so she quickly pulled it back up.

His words ran together as he answered her. "You were acting funny, and when you fell over you hit your head. I kept you awake for a while, but you eventually fell asleep. I've been trying to keep an eye on you all night, but I guess I got tired and got into your bed. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay," Lucy said. "I don't think I mind."

"Oh." Natsu looked surprised. "Well that's good then."

Lucy blinked as she finally processed his words. "Wait a minute… I hit my head?"

"Yeah. You tripped when you were walking out of the kitchen and I didn't manage to catch you in time." Natsu's gut twisted as he spoke. He'd never lied before in his life, but after what Virgo had done to Lucy, he couldn't tell her the truth. And when she eventually found out… she would hate him.

Even if it had been for her own good.

Natsu shook his head a bit and stood up, continuing to avoid her gaze. "I'm just going to go. I'll make you some breakfast."

As he quickly left her room, Lucy wondered why he had seemed so upset. It hadn't been his fault that he didn't catch her. She was human, she was bound to get hurt occasionally, so he had nothing to feel so bad about.

She quickly changed into something more comfortable and went into the kitchen. Natsu had eggs and hashbrowns out and the bread was open next to the toaster. As she entered, he set aside the whisk and began to add other things to the egg bowl.

"Natsu-"

"I thought about what you said." Natsu kept his back to her, not sure he could face her. He needed to change the subject, before he said something really stupid.

When he'd woken up, in those few short seconds when he had been half asleep and staring at her, so soft and warm in his arms, he had decided that there really wasn't anything else to think about. It was obvious that he wanted what she had offered, no matter what that entailed.

And in the end, he would go home, and she would stay here, and they could hopefully maintain a friendship, because if there was one thing he didn't want, it was to lose her in the end.

He cared about her a great deal, and the thought of them not being friends after everything was over… hurt.

"My offer?" Lucy asked, confused.

"From a couple nights ago," he answered.

Lucy was still half asleep and concerned about what had happened the previous day, not to mention what was going on with Natsu, so she had no idea what he meant. When he glanced over his shoulder, he could see the confusion in her eyes. With a small smile, he set his spoon in the bowl and moved towards her. In a move so smooth he wasn't sure it was him, he slid his hands along her jaw to tilt her head back while simultaneously pushing her back with his body until she hit the wall.

Lucy's eyes widened as his mouth came down on hers before fluttering closed when it made contact. His lips were soft, and as he kissed her, his thumbs, featherlight, rubbed against her cheeks. He tilted his head and opened her mouth with his own so that he could slide his tongue between her parted lips.

She sighed when his tongue left her mouth after flicking at her own and his teeth tugged on her bottom lip as he pulled away. As he smiled down at her, she watched the gold in his eyes fade to a thin line again. "Does that jog your memory enough?" he asked.

_"Do you think… if you did like doing that with me… do you think that maybe… you and I… could… try other things?"_

_"Well, I don't know if it's a thing demons or dragons do, but… you know, maybe while you're here, we could… date. Or, you know, do things that… dating people… do…"_

"Oh…" Lucy audibly swallowed as Natsu's fingers continued to rub lightly across her skin. "That."

"Yes, that." The gold completely faded and Natsu became visibly nervous. "I, uh, I was thinking that I would like that. To do whatever it is dating humans do together. You'll have to tell me what that is, but I think I would like that.

"As long as… it's with you," he finished quietly.

Lucy could feel her heart expanding as her dragon demon hybrid stood before her looking so unsure of himself. That he was as nervous as her seemed to make her feel silly for worrying so much about his response. He seemed even more uncertain than her, and he was decades, even centuries older than her.

Lucy cut that thought off immediately, not sure she wanted to ponder the length of his life. She'd gone this long without asking and she planned on sticking to that.

She smiled and lifted her hands to lightly tug his face her way. When his eyes met hers, she gave him a big smile as she said, "I'm glad." Then she stood on tiptoe to give him a firm kiss on his lips.

"I have one condition," Natsu said as she pulled away.

"What's that?"

"No matter what happens, we stay friends after the contract is up."

Lucy cocked her head to the side as she frowned. "I thought demons usually wiped-"

"I would _never_ wipe you," Natsu said vehemently. "You are too important for that. I want you to always remember me and what we have together, and I always want to be friends… for as long as we can be, anyway."

Lucy found that those words made her want to cry, but she fought them back as she nodded at him. "I want that, too. I promise," she said, "we can stay friends."

Natsu sighed as he pulled away. "Good. Uh, so does that mean I'm your… boyfriend? I think that was the term."

Lucy's cheeks pinkened. "Well I… I mean, we could be boyfriend and girlfriend if you want. We don't have to use labels or anything. It's up to you. It might be too soon?…"

"I like you having a claim on me," Natsu said with a grin. "You're already my master, would that be a suitable label?" he asked as he tilted his head.

Lucy's eyes shot open wide and she shook her head. "No!" Her voice was high and squeaky when she answered so she cleared her throat before continuing. "That label means something completely different in this context."

Natsu shrugged. "Okay, then let's stick with boyfriend." He glanced over his shoulder before turning back towards the counter. "I'd better get your food finished. You still have to go to work today."

Lucy blinked as she looked at the clock. She had less time to get ready than usual, but what surprised her was that she'd forgotten it was a work day.

"Crap, you're right. I completely forgot what day it was." She laughed a little. "Hopefully this head thing didn't make me forget too much. I'll be back after I'm ready." She moved forward to give him a quick hug before leaving the room and heading for the hallway.

Natsu felt the demon inside him rise up a little as he slowly became more angry with himself. By the time he had everything cooking, the itch was back under his skin and he had to wrap his hands up in the dish towel hanging from the stove to keep himself from scratching his skin raw.

He _hated_ this. He hated lying to Lucy. After all this time, after all the effort he'd put in to making himself more than the sum of his parts, and now he was no better than the demon blood that ran hot and black through his veins. He couldn't protect his charge on his own, he couldn't maintain control over his own mind, he couldn't even make it through one contract without picking up a new hobby- _lying_. How could he be good enough to be her protector or friend when he continued to fail so horribly?

It was that damn angel's fault.

If Leo would just _tell_ Lucy what was happening, she could be more prepared, and he wouldn't be forced to resort to such… abhorrent tactics. Even if it had been Virgo who had wiped her and made up such a crappy story to cover it up, she'd done it for Leo.

That damn angel…

Unfortunately, until the angel was back, Natsu was forced to stick to this charade. Maybe if he could just keep busy and not think about it, things would be okay, at least until everyone came clean.

Because they would, whether Leo wanted to or not. Natsu couldn't lie to Lucy again, he just couldn't. Every part of him that wasn't demonic felt sick and achy over his lie. He refused to do it again.

Natsu barely managed to pull himself together before Lucy returned to the kitchen. As she helped him set the table, he couldn't help but notice how much more comfortable she seemed around him. She kept subtly rubbing an arm or hip against him as she stood next to him to reach into the cupboards, or slide a piece of toast from the stack. Every time he would look at her face and she would just give him a small smile before looking away. And while they sat and ate at the table, one of her legs slid over to rest against his as they spoke and planned their small Christmas gathering.

When Lucy left after breakfast, after having to be bodily removed from the kitchen because _he could handle the dishes, thank you very much_, she made sure to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving with a big smile on her face.

Natsu felt rather light, so light that the black tether at the bottom of his soul could barely keep him held down. With a bright smile, Natsu decided to wait to clean up the dishes.

If she wanted a boyfriend, he'd be the best damn boyfriend she ever had.

He had some research to do.

* * *

"Are you kidding me?! This is almost the _exact_ list Happy gave me! Sneaky Exceed…"

"Of course I'd treat her with respect. She's a freaking person, not a thing. What a stupid thing to list…"

"Are human men _stupid?_ Why do they have to be told these things!"

"I think that one might be better upside down. Might have to try…"

"How on earth am I supposed to know how much is too much and how much is just enough? That is very unhelpful advice."

"Dear gods… how does it even fit?!"

"Woman have an organ that's only purpose is to make them feel good? Dear gods, I wonder what the succubi would think of that."


	54. Chapter 54

**Ready for some fluff? **

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Just try it!" Natsu held out his fork, a bite of cake speared onto the end.

"I don't want to," Lucy said as she shook her head. "It's going to be spicy!"

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. You can handle it." He dipped his head and pouted. "Please?"

Lucy's nose crinkled. "You can't win me over with that face."

"Can't I?" He stuck his bottom lip out even farther and gave her his most pleading look.

She sighed. "Fine. One bite." Natsu instantly perked up and brought his fork to her mouth.

Lucy took the bite, but her eyes started watering almost immediately. Natsu laughed as she coughed into a napkin, glaring at him the whole time. "That is _definitely_ too hot!" she said when she finally caught her breath.

"It's just cinnamon," he said.

"_A lot_ of cinnamon!" She drank some of her water as he continued to chuckle. "You'd better be nice to me," she warned.

"Or what?" he asked, a not-so-innocent twinkle in his eye.

The blonde looked away and took another bite of her own desert. "You'll regret it."

Natsu grinned. "I'm intrigued… I might just have to keep being mean."

When Lucy shoved at his arm, he allowed her to push him while he laughed. "I'll be right back. Gotta use the bathroom." He shot her another smile as he stood and headed towards the back of the cafe.

Lucy couldn't stop herself from smiling like an idiot once his back was turned. She felt so _good_. Even if their relationship was kind of a strange one, she couldn't help but be happy with everything going on. Natsu had proven to be even better at doing the real dating thing than he had at planning their first date. He'd been sweet and affectionate, touchy without being clingy, and when she was around him, it didn't matter what they were doing, she always felt like she was the center of his universe with all the affection and attention he showered her with. She was positive she would miss it once he was gone.

With that thought, she turned back to her desert, after eyeing his with a shudder, and waited for him to return.

Natsu muttered a spell under his breath, one that would cause everyone around him to ignore his presence. As he entered the back hallways, he walked passed the restrooms and through the employees only door at the end. He quickly made his way through the kitchen, avoiding walking near most of the employees, before exiting out the back door.

"I appreciate that you didn't make me wait."

Natsu turned and found Loke leaning against a wall. "Well, you were pretty loud so it would have been hard to ignore you. What do you want? I thought you were still resting."

"I wanted to come check in on the restaurant," the angel said.

"And your charge." Natsu crossed his arms. "Do you not trust me at all? Your people have added multiple runes and spells to Lucy's apartment and work, and I've added a few of my own."

"You're not in either of those places," Loke pointed out.

"They won't take her from out in the open. Zalanoon know that doing so will cause a lot of trouble with multiple other realms, and if he wants this plan to succeed, he needs to stay low."

"He's angered enough of them," Loke said with a venom laced voice. "My king has already started talking to the demon kings and leaders from several of the other races. If he's not dead, he will have a very hard time accomplishing his plan now. With the kings on alert, Lucy should be free to live her life without any more problems."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "So why are you so worried about Lucy's safety?"

"It's not her safety I'm worried about."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Loke's look meant and as soon as Natsu did, he growled.

"Don't be that way," Loke said with raised hands.

"You're worried about _me?_ What have I done to warrant that?!"

"You're a demon, Natsu, that made a contract with my charge."

Natsu's glare heated up. "I'm a dragon with demon blood. I'm not like my demon brethren, you know that."

Loke raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't make me bring up what happened in the Dark."

"That wasn't my fault." Natsu growled even louder.

"I'm not saying it was, but it happened." Loke readjusted his weight to his other foot. "You're not as innocent as you're trying to make yourself out to be."

"That was different. Lucy is perfectly safe here with me." He turned around. "I'm going back inside."

"Natsu, what are you trying to accomplish?"

The hybrid paused. "With what?"

"What are you doing with Lucy?"

Loke could see Natsu's shoulders tense as he answered. "I don't know what you mean."

"I saw you two inside. You looked awfully cozy together."

"Jealous?"

"Worried," Loke corrected. He moved forward and put a hand on the hybrid's shoulder. "You know nothing can come from having a relationship with Lucy, so why try?"

"Demons are greedy creatures," Natsu said angrily as he shrugged Loke's hand off of him.

"You know you're more dragon than demon, Natsu." Loke moved to stand in Natsu's way. "You care about Lucy, anyone can see that, but what you're doing is going to hurt her. It will have to end eventually and in the meantime, her heart is going to get involved, I know it will. Lucy's not the type to date or sleep around without getting attached. What will you do when all of this is over?"

"We've already agreed to remain friends," Natsu said. "Do you mind? She's your charge, so I understand that you're worried about her, but she's an adult and she can make her own choices. Whatever we do together is none of your concern."

"Actually it is," Loke said.

"No, it isn't." Natsu stepped around the angel. "Keep your concerns to yourself, Leo. I have no intention of hurting her, so you don't have to worry."

"Natsu-"

"I have to get back to Lucy." Natsu held his hand over the door to unlock it again. "Don't forget about Christmas. Lucy will be disappointed if you don't show up." Without another word, Natsu went back inside.

Loke sighed. That talk hadn't gone as well as he wanted. He had to protect Lucy- he had to protect the Heartfilia line. The angels had been protecting them for multiple generations. If he failed now, in the home stretch, he could lose his angelhood. Not only that, worse case scenario of him failing was the realms being pulled together into one. That was a death sentence for humans and multiple other beings, so he couldn't fail.

_If one and two create a pair_…

Being Natsu's mate made Leo's job so much harder, since he had the power to interfere with the 'naturally dying' part of the prophecy.

Leo decided to let it go for now. If he had to interfere later, he would. At this point, heartbreak was the only thing he was risking. If Natsu pushed things too far, then he'd be forced to interfere and he would do what he had to then.

Leo sighed as he meandered around to the front of the cafe again. From the shadows, he watched the pair interact. Lucy was laughing at something Natsu said, and when the hybrid leaned forward to whisper into her ear, Leo could see her cheeks redden as she giggled in response.

Deciding he needed more rest, he mentally let Virgo know he was going back before heading to his home in the angel realm.

At least there, he could have a break from worrying over everything happening.

* * *

"So do we have everything for Saturday?" Natsu asked.

"I believe so," Lucy answered as she put away the rest of the groceries. "I checked with Oakley and Maverick this morning and they are still bringing the pies. Loke called about an hour ago; he's coming with Aries and Manda and they'll each be bringing a salad. We're still inviting Wendy and Carla, right?"

"Yep." He glanced over his shoulder before casually turning another page in the cookbook in front of him. "So where has Loke been? Did he say?"

"Yeah, apparently an estranged great uncle of his passed away and he was in the will."

"Estranged? Doesn't that mean he didn't associate with his family anymore?"

"Yeah, but he apparently was around for a while when he was younger and grew pretty attached to Loke. He left due to some other family issues and when he passed away, he left about half of his stuff to Loke and the rest to a friend, I guess.

"I get that he was busy, but it would have been nice if he'd called or shot me a text, you know? Just so that I knew he was okay." Lucy came and sat next to him at the table so she could rest her chin on his shoulder and look at the cookbook as well. "So? What amazing dish are you making?"

"You sound like you're expecting a lot out of me, but I've found very little differentiation between green bean casserole recipes and there are only so many options for potatoes."

"What about the meat?"

"I'm making a duck and a ham. The duck is sitting in a solution in the fridge and Saturday I'll just have to throw it in the oven. Same with the ham."

"Oooo, I love dark meat. I bet the duck is going to be delicious." Lucy grinned up at him. "Did you pick that out special for me?"

Natsu cleared his throat as he looked away. "Duck is different, and I thought it would be fun to try."

Lucy grabbed his chin and pulled his face her way. He avoided her eyes, but she eventually forced him to look at her. When he finally did, she immediately grinned and kissed his cheek. "You're too cute."

Natsu blushed. "I don't know what makes you say that."

"You definitely decided to make that for me. I can tell you're trying to lie to me." She stood up and went to the fridge. "You can't lie to me, mister. You're just as bad at it as you told me when you first showed up."

Natsu's stomach sank as he closed the book and stood up. "You'll just have to get used to it I guess. Might want to remember that before asking me if your pants make your butt look big."

Lucy froze, a bottle of beer inches from her mouth. She slowly lowered the drink as she cocked her head to the side. "What does that mean?"

"Uh…" Natsu began to inch his way towards the living room as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just, I saw a lot of references about it on the internet and I just-"

"Do you think these pants make my butt look big?" she asked as she turned sideways.

"What? I was saying you shouldn't ask me. I don't wanna-"

"Answer me," Lucy said as she desperately tried to hide her smile. He was so adorable when he was nervous like that. "Does my butt look big?"

"Your butt looks edible," he said, a flash of gold appearing around his irises.

Lucy's cheeks began to burn but she didn't look away. "Well that's nice to hear, but do you mean that?"

"We- I definitely mean that," Natsu said, swiftly correcting himself. No need to bring up his alter ego to Lucy. He preferred the mystery of not knowing over risking telling her that he had some extra personality or whatever in his head that wanted to peel her out of-

"Are we still going out to get dinner?" he asked, desperately trying to clear his head. The presence was there, trying, he was certain, to make him stare at Lucy's butt. Or maybe that was just him. She still hadn't turned back his way which was making it difficult.

"Yes. There's a place in town that makes amazing burgers and I have a hankering for one."

"Alright. Do you work tomorrow?"

Lucy shook her head. "It's Christmas Eve so I have the day off! Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, everyone is going to be busy or gone, so we won't be going to Fairy Tail."

"That's okay," he said as he finally forced his eyes up to hers. "I was hoping for a little extra prep time before Saturday."

"Well you'll have it." Lucy took a drink from her bottle. "I'm honestly a little surprised that the bar isn't going to be open. They're usually open every year for Christmas Eve. The owner likes to throw a little Christmas party for people who want to go. Since he's Laxus' grandfather, we usually go, but this year he was invited to a special thing at Mira's so he's closing it up."

"Well it's a nice tradition, even if he's taking a break from it this year."

"Yeah, well, he likes to have somewhere for people to celebrate that don't have anywhere else to go. I heard that he might be having it on Christmas Day instead, but I didn't have a chance to ask Laxus if that's true. Even if it is, we'll be too busy to go anyway, so I didn't try too hard to find out."

Natsu grinned as he put an arm around her. "You'll have your hands full throwing a Christmas for plenty of people in that same boat." He hugged her close and put his chin on her head. "You're amazing by the way, do you know that? That you're gathering all these people together to give them somewhere to celebrate the holiday is pretty incredible."

"It's really not. I do it every year," she said as she waved away his praise.

"Well I think it's pretty amazing." He kissed the top of her head. "Also, I like being able to touch you like this whenever I want." He grinned and lifted her hands up to his mouth to kiss the palms. "It's nice."

"I like it too," she said with a grin of her own. "Although, you might not want to grab me so much in public. Some people aren't a fan of PDA."

"Are you sure? I don't care if you don't. It's not like they're the ones I'm touching." He ran his hands down her sides as the golden rims of his eyes practically glowed. "I can touch you however you want to be touched, whenever you want to be touch. Just say the word, _master_," he purred.

Lucy swallowed. "Are you getting drunk? You're being awfully forward, even for you."

The golden ring disappeared and Natsu backed away, hands raised. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I just-"

Lucy laughed and grabbed his hands. "I'm just kidding. Mostly. You are being a little forward, but I don't mind. It's kind of nice that you can go from being so confident to being this shy." She pressed a lingering kiss to his hand before nodding toward the couch. "Wanna make out a little before we head out to grab dinner."

Natsu's relieved smile and subsequent grin was a relief, and when he grabbed her into his arms and started walking across the living room, Lucy laughed despite the butterflies in her stomach.

"I think we have some time," he said as he tossed her lightly onto the cushions and then stretched out over her body. "But first…"

He growled and then gently bit her neck. Before Lucy could do anything to respond, though, Natsu began to mercilessly tickle her. "_Natsu!_ Stop!"

Natsu ignored her as he mercilessly tickled her. Lucy desperately tried to buck him off but he was too strong. Eventually, when it was obvious that she was struggling to breathe, he finally pulled back with a smacking kiss on her mouth.

"What… was that… for?" she asked as she fought to catch her breath.

Natsu's eyes lingered on her heaving chest. "Because I could."

Lucy didn't say anything. Instead, she continued to watch him stare. She could see the gold in his eyes again, but she was positive that the hungry look she saw there wasn't from the dragon this time. It was Natsu.

And a large part of her hoped that he would devour her.

Natsu suddenly shook his head violently as he clumsily stood up. "We should get going."

Disappointment hit Lucy hard. "But-"

"No arguing." He grabbed her hands and helped her to stand. "Come on, food and then we have a little trip to make."

"What? Where?"

"I can't tell you. It's your Christmas present."

Lucy frowned. "But it's not Christmas yet."

"I want to give it to you early instead of late, and it's not something I can box up. Come on," he said as he tugged her into the entryway. "Get your jacket so we can go."

"But Natsu-"

"No arguing." He tossed her jacket at her and it landed on her head. "I'll wait for you outside."

When Lucy finally untangled herself from her jacket, Natsu was already out the door. Confused, she set aside her jacket and started to pull on her boots.

Outside, Natsu paced the sidewalk, desperately trying to get himself under control. It was cold and the air was crisp and clear, but he could still smell it.

_Smell her_.

He could smell her all the time, even when she wasn't there, but this had been a different smell. It had been… primal. It had awakened instincts in him that he didn't have any experience handling. It had made him want to tear off her clothes and then do… _something_. He thought back to the few times he'd see demons in the midst of sexual encounters, and he knew that if he did any of those things, he'd hurt Lucy. How was he even supposed to be with Lucy? How did humans do that kind of thing?

Did Lucy want that? Was he _sure_ that was one of the dating things she wanted with him? Now that he thought about it, he had assumed that it was part of their new arrangement, but he wasn't sure if she'd meant for it to be.

"Ready to go?" Lucy's voice shook him out of his thoughts and he jerked to a stop, a fake smile plastered onto his face.

"Yep. Let's go," he said as he held out his hand towards her. She smiled as she took ahold of it and began to walk at his side.

Natsu was relieved that he was only picking up her regular scent as they walked. Being yanked out of his thoughts had helped to bring his urges under control so he felt much better as they headed into town. Now he just had to hope the other smell didn't return while they were out and about. And he had to have a talk with Lucy about her… expectations.


	55. Chapter 55

**Been a week guys, and I feel a little bad. Between teething, our trip north, and the lack of sleep, I've found it very difficult to focus on writing. Added to that, I was having trouble deciding how I wanted to write this one, but I think I've finally gotten it mostly where I want it. I hope you all love it, because… **

**IT'S TIME FOR THE ALTERNATE CHAPTERS!** **To those who are interested in the sexy scenes, this is the first chapter that has an alternate version! If you go to my stories, you will find a new one called Surprise Guest: NSFW Chapters. I recommend following that one as well, so you can be updated when the later chapters are added. I will post both versions at the same time, every time, with a note in here reminding you it exists.**

**For those not interested, I promise you will not miss out on anything important. There will be some conversation of course, but nothing that will make or break the story if you miss it. Also, as promised, this version was written first, so it meets my minimum requirements for length, like all the previous chapters. Also, there is some sexy action here. Nothing too graphic (I don't think?) Some clothes removed and kissing/ touching, but I cut it off before things got too heavy. Let me know if you think I put too much in. I've never had to cut my sex scenes short before so I'd love feedback so I can get better at it!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Natsu, how much farther?"

"Not far." Natsu hugged her a little closer. "Are you cold?"

"No, I'm warm enough. It's…"

"The height?" he finished for her

Lucy nodded, her hands firmly over her eyes. "Even though I'm not looking, it still sort of feels like my stomach is down on the ground, you know?"

"I could do the spell I did last time we flew if you want," Natsu offered.

"No, it's okay," she said. "I'd like to try and get used to it."

Natsu grinned. "Get used to it, huh? Does that mean you'd like to go flying more often?"

Lucy could hear the smugness in his voice so she peaked between her fingers to confirm. "I'm not saying it's the greatest way to travel or anything, I just think I'd be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity."

He chuckled. "Sure."

"Oh shut up." She moved her hands back. "Are we almost there?"

There was a pause. "Yeah, but it looks like I'll have to set you down somewhere else for a bit. It snowed last night so I have to clean up again."

Clue one: they were not in Magnolia. Clue two: they were outside. "Okay."

Natsu landed carefully and set her on her feet. "Stand right here and don't move. I don't want you to trip."

Lucy lowered her arms to wrap them around herself. "I will stay right- ahh!"

"Keep your eyes covered!" he said as his hands frantically covered her face.

After she pushed his hands away, she put one of her own back over her eyes. "I had my eyes closed, Natsu, calm down."

"Sorry…" He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I just don't want to ruin the surprise."

"I won't look, I promise, just hurry up so I don't get cold."

"You got it."

Lucy wrapped her free arm around herself as she waited. She could hear movement and some sizzling, but she realized after a while that she couldn't hear much else. It was too cold for animal noises, and she couldn't hear any car noises or any other noises from town. "How far away from home are we?"

Natsu's voice floated back to her. "I think it's a few miles from Magnolia. I'm not good at converting to your realm's measurements."

After a while, Natsu's heat announced his arrival and his arms came around her again. "You ready to move?"

She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted back up, landing again after only a few seconds. "Alright, let me move over here… okay, open your eyes."

When Lucy finally let her hands fall, her knees instantly threatened to give out from under her. "Natsu…"

Suddenly he was there again, his arms wrapped around her to keep her steady. "Do you like it?" She couldn't seem to find any words, or even nod her head as she looked around.

It was the clearing.

It was her _mother's clearing._

Natsu had melted all the snow so she couldn't have mistaken the space if she wanted to. The willows' limbs were longer than she remembered and the grass was all a pale green from being buried in the snow, but the three flat boulders were still in the same place and the bald patch in the middle had some grass on it, but it was still mostly worn down where they used to spread out their blanket.

Lucy's heart threatened to explode as she fought to sort through the emotions rapidly flowing through her. "Natsu… you found it…"

"It wasn't easy, but I did! I had some trouble with people roaming around at night seeing me, so it slowed me down, but I wanted to make sure I got you something awesome. Do you like it?"

Lucy nodded rapidly as her vision blurred. She couldn't manage to hide the tears as she quickly turned around and threw her arms around him. Being there, where she had once spent so much time with her mother, was overwhelming and she desperately wanted a few moments to collect herself.

She felt Natsu shift uncomfortably as she locked him in a death grip. "Luce, are you sure you like it? You're crying."

Once again, Lucy nodded her head and did her best to sort through her emotions so that he could feel how happy she was. "I… I am, I promise… I'm just… I'm feeling a lot of emotions all at once."

"Oh." He didn't do anything else, just continued to hold her while she gathered herself.

After a while, she finally managed to pull herself together. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I understand. I'm glad you like it." When she leaned back, he reached up to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "We can stay as long as you like, by the way. I can keep you plenty warm."

Lucy nodded and then looked around her. "We'll have to come back some time when it's dark out. Mom and I use to come out here to look at the stars, so I'd like to do that again."

Natsu looked above him at the clear blue sky. "I didn't think about that… damn it."

"It's okay, really. Just knowing where it is is an amazing gift. I love it."

"Well, we could wait or…" He looked at her again. "Do you trust me?"

The answer came out of her before she could even fully think it through. "Of course."

Natsu nodded and then gently pulled her face to his chest. "Close your eyes and don't move, okay? I've never done this before with someone else and I don't want you to get to jostled too hard."

Lucy pressed herself back against him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Once his arms were around her again, he began to murmured quietly. Lucy couldn't understand the harsh words, but as he spoke, the air around them began to vibrate. A buzzing sound built up in her ears and her body began to shake. Lucy grit her teeth a little and tried to hold steady, but she didn't have to try long. The noise and movement all stopped simultaneously and Natsu sighed.

"That was easier than I expected."

Lucy slowly pulled away, in case it was too soon, and when he didn't stop her, she tilted her head back and opened her eyes. As she looked around, she realized everything was very dark, until she looked up.

Hundreds of stars sparkled overhead, dozens of constellations that Lucy recognized blinking at her as though they were saying hello. "How?…"

"It's very limited, but I can jump through time a little." Natsu wobbled a little as he pulled away. "I moved us forward a few hours so you could see the stars."

Torn between being impressed and a little annoyed that he hadn't asked first, Lucy slowly looked around them as Natsu sat on one of the boulders. In the dark, the clearing looked no different than the last time she'd been there. That Natsu had put in so much time and effort to find this place for her again… Lucy didn't know if she could repay that kind of debt.

"You know, this is an awfully impressive first gift," she said, trying to make a joke around the lump steadily growing in her throat. "How are you expecting to top this one?"

"This isn't your first gift," Natsu argued.

"It is since we started dating," Lucy said. "You just set expectations awfully high."

Natsu blinked a couple times looking worried, before he scoffed. "I'll worry about it once you manage to catch up."

Lucy's eyebrows shot up. "Catch up?"

He gestured around them. "It's going to be awfully hard to give me something this good. Until then, I think I'm winning this gift giving thing, so I won't worry about topping it."

"I think I can surprise you," Lucy said with a smile before she slowly spun around to look at the surrounding trees. She paused with her back towards him, her head tipped back to stare above her at the stars.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?"

Lucy licked her lips. "I… you know what this place needs?"

"What's that?" he asked.

"More memories." She clasped her hands behind her back. "I want to make more memories here. With you."

"What did you have in mind? We could hang out and look at the stars if you'd like. I'd love to hear the stories you've been taught about them."

"I'd like to do that, too." She turned so she could look over her shoulder. "That's not the kind of memory I had in mind, though."

"What would you like to do?"

Lucy struggled not to hesitate as she spoke. "I'd like to… do stuff with you."

When she looked his way again, Natsu was squinting at her, obviously confused. "I feel like I should understand what you're trying to say, even though it's so vague."

"I want to… _do stuff_ with you," she said again.

Even in the dark, she could see when the gold entered his eyes. His voice was just a little deeper when he spoke. "Things that couples would do, you mean? Things the would require… a bed?"

Lucy nodded as she spun to fully face him again. "I don't want to go all the way, not yet, but I want to… do other things."

"From what I've seen, don't most people wait until the third date to kiss? Isn't 'more' a little too soon?"

Lucy shook her head slowly. "It doesn't feel too fast, not with you. It feels… right."

Natsu's eyes practically glowed in the dark as he slowly got to his feet and moved to stand in front of her. Lucy's breath puffed out in front of her as her mouth fell open. "I don't really want to undress you outside where it's so cold and open."

Lucy chuckled quietly. "That's not very adventurous of you."

Natsu's fingers slid along her jaw, causing her eyes to flutter closed as he tilted her head. "The ground is hard."

"Magic us up a bed," she breathed.

Natsu sighed against her cheek as Lucy's hands moved up his sides, finding his skin under his shirt. "I don't want you to get cold."

"That can't possibly happen if you're with me," she whispered. When Natsu's nose skimmed her own, Lucy opened her eyes and lifted onto her toes so she could kiss him. The growl in his throat made her smile, and when his arm wrapped around her, she knew she'd won as he held her head still for his lips.

As he ravaged her mouth, the only sounds in the space were her moans and sighs and his harsh breath.

After some time, her jacket was yanked from her body, and she was lifted into the air, only to have her boots roughly pulled from her feet. "Luce… you'll have to make sure I don't hurt you. Or do anything you don't want me to do."

"You can't hurt me," she said as she dug her fingers into his hair. "I don't think you have it in you."

"Just… promise me you'll stop me if you don't like something."

His tone was pleading, so she pulled away to reassure him again, but got distracted.

All around them, candles floated in the air. A large mattress, covered in pillows and blankets, had appeared in the middle of the clearing. As she continued to stare wide eyed around them, Lucy was suddenly flung into the air. She landed with a giggle on the bed and was instantly covered by a shirtless Natsu. He leaned down and lightly kissed his way down her jaw. "You're wearing an awful lot of clothes," he whispered. "How much of it would you like help removing?"

Lucy moaned quietly when he nibbled on her ear and then laved it with his tongue. "I- I think I'd like most of it off." Gods above, she was still in her pants and shirts and she was already more turned on than she'd ever been in her entire life.

When Natsu's body heat suddenly became more intense, she opened her eyes and saw that her sweatshirt was gone. "How'd you do that?"

"Don't worry, it's on the ground. I just didn't want to try very hard to get it off." Natsu's hands were slowly sliding around the top of her pants.

"Do you… do you plan on taking all my clothes off like that?"

Natsu chuckled. "No, I want to enjoy taking off the rest."

Lucy stuck her lip out in a pout. "You know, I'd like to do that to you as well, but you've already taken your shirt off."

Natsu pulled back, and with a grin his shirt reappeared on his body. "By all means, master, do to me what you please."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the challenging glint in his eyes, so in a move that only worked because she surprised him, she rolled him over and straddled his waist. Natsu grinned up at her in response to her smile. "I think I will, thank you."

His muscles were hot and hard under her hands as she slowly ran them up his abs, raising his shirt inch by slow inch. Half way up, Natsu made a move to help her, but she quickly grabbed his wrists and held his arms down at his sides. "Uh uh," she admonished him. "You keep your hands to yourself. This is my turn."

A growl was Natsu's only response as the gold in his eyes increased slightly. His breathing became more labored as she went back to work, but he did nothing to rush or help her. With her eyes firmly on his, she leaned down once she'd revealed his chest and showered kisses over his exposed skin. Natsu's nostrils flared and his hips rolled as he watched her, his hands fisting into the blankets as she licked carefully at his nipples. He groaned as his head sank into the pillows, not sure how such a move could make him feel so much.

Lucy made a note of his reaction before she finished taking off his shirt. When she tossed it onto the ground to join her own, Natsu flipped her onto her back again. "My turn," he growled as he grabbed the hem of her shirt and shoved it up.

The heat in the clearing amped up as Natsu's mouth found the skin of her stomach. Lucy closed her eyes as she reveled in the attention he gave her body, not sure she'd ever had such an intense focus on her before.

Natsu spoke between kisses and licks, struggling to find the words. "Luce… I don't know what I'm feeling right now… I can't seem to control my body." He drank deep the smell of her skin as he moved back towards her neck. "Stop me if you have to. Hit me, kick me, whatever you have to do. I don't know… if I can control myself. I've never done this before so I'm only working with instinct." He buried his nose in just over the vein in her neck. "And with your smell in my nose… I can't seem to think, only act."

"I highly doubt I'll need to- _ahhhhh_." Lucy gasped as her shirt was suddenly ripped from her body and Natsu's mouth latched onto her left breast. His canines poked at her skin, possibly into it, but Lucy didn't care. Pleasure- hot, heavy, overpowering- pulsed through her body as Natsu's hands and mouth desperately roamed over her body.

When his mouth found hers again, she met him kiss for kiss as her muscles melted in the heat he was producing. When he finally pulled away to breathe, she opened her eyes and saw that his had changed.

Instead of the usual rings, the gold and onyx were swirling together. Lucy wondered if that meant the dragon and Natsu had managed to share the space inside Natsu's head, but before she could think about it further, Natsu's hands grabbed the top of her pants and yanked, tearing them from her body as well.

Lucy wanted to be upset, but she figured the clothes were a small price to pay for the intensity of the feelings surging through her as Natsu continued to touch and tease her. His lips, his hands, his body… it was all so much more overwhelming than she'd imagined.

Her last thought, as her bra fell to the same fate as her shirt and pants, was that she could always have him fix her clothes later.


	56. Chapter 56

**So… my husband and I recently started a new Minecraft server, so my free time is now split between that and writing. I apologize that things will slow down for a while, but video games are my only craving right now and I've never been good at denying myself.**

**I'm very pleased with the positive responses for the last chapter! I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves, and honestly… I don't know how Lucy is going to top that gift either, (begins to sweat internally.)**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy jerked awake as her coffee pot buzzed, letting her know it was finished brewing. Her jaw cracked as she yawned and got up to fill her mug before allowing her body to run on auto pilot and prepare it.

She had been up way too long the previous night. Natsu had been insatiable once he'd discovered the feelings that could be produced with touch. They hadn't done anything different after the first time, except that Lucy had lost the energy to reciprocate after the… third time? Even then he had continued, apparently finding enough satisfaction in just making her finish. The images running through her head made her body flush despite her exhaustion.

Natsu had been a very attentive student, and he'd practiced his new skills until Lucy had begged him to stop.

A quiet groan escaped Lucy despite herself. As amazing as it had been, she hoped Natsu wouldn't expect every night to be that way. She wasn't sure she could handle it, not to mention the lack of sleep that came with it. Natsu might only need an hour or two, but she needed a human amount of sleep. Maybe she'd have to remind him to experiment on his own as well…

Once she returned to the table, she laid her head down in her arms, giving herself a moment to regain enough energy to lift her mug to drink.

"Mornin' Luce." Natsu's voice interrupted her body's attempt to fall asleep again.

"Mmm." Lucy didn't even bother to raise her head when she responded.

She heard him begin to open cupboards. "Tired?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Would you, uh, like me to get you something?"

"Mmm."

There was a pause. "I don't know what that means."

"'m good," she mumbled into her arms.

"Okay."

Natsu continued to put the things together he'd need to make some eggs and hashbrowns, occasionally glancing back at Lucy who appeared to have fallen asleep at the table. He let out a breath when she began to softly snore.

The previous night had been… Natsu couldn't find an appropriate word to describe the experience. It had far surpassed anything he'd done prior in his life, and he could only imagine it would get better. He was eagerly waiting for the next time they could be together, even if she continued to restrict what they could do.

However, Natsu couldn't shake the embarrassment that had popped up as soon as he'd seen Lucy that morning. The night before, despite being in a situation he'd never been in before, he had felt confident, he'd felt good, he'd felt like the best version of himself. This morning, in the light of day… he felt less sure of himself. He noted that he felt like something was missing since the previous night, like the fire he normally felt in his belly wasn't as hot as usual. He was also strangely the only presence inside his skull. Normally seeing Lucy would wake up that extra thing in his head, but today he didn't feel anything. Perhaps the two things were related?

Lucy jerked a little and then raised her head, blinking rapidly as she looked around. With a sigh, she lifted her coffee and took a long drink.

"Natsu, about last night…"

Instantly, the heat in Natsu's belly flared and his face began to burn. He turned away quickly, trying to pretend he was only working on breakfast. "Uh, yeah? What about it?"

"I just… I wanted to make sure you won't be expecting what happened last night to happen all the time."

Stomach suddenly in knots, Natsu faltered as he cracked the eggs in the bowl. He began to dig the shell pieces out as he cleared his throat. Had he misinterpreted something? "Did I, uh, do something wrong? Not that you need to tell me why you don't want to do it again. It's just a curiosity thing. Nevermind-"

Lucy cut him off. "Natsu, that's not what I said." When she appeared at his elbow, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

She turned his face her way and then got up on tiptoe to kiss him. He was stiff at first, but she eventually coaxed him into kissing her back. When she pulled away, she rubbed his nose with hers, surprising him. "I wasn't saying I don't want to do that again, I was just saying I can't do it every night… at least, not that much."

Her eyes darted away as her cheeks pinkened. "It's kind of exhausting, and I need sleep. So we can do it again, just not so much, okay?"

Natsu nodded as she pulled away and returned to the kitchen table. With the air somewhat cleared, the rest of the morning was more relaxed as the pair ate and finished some prep work for the following day.

Around noon, Lucy's phone went off while she was snoozing in her bed. She rolled over and hit the answer button when she saw it was her friends.

Levy's was the first face to appear in the video chat. "Happy Christmas Eve, Lu!"

"Isn't it Merry Christmas Eve?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, well, everyone says that. I thought I'd shake it up a bit."

Lucy chuckled. "Calm down over there, don't want you going overboard."

"Haha."

Cana appeared next, looking tired but in good spirits. "Morning losers, what's going on?"

"It's after noon," Levy said as she checked her watch.

"Someone looks happy today," Lucy added.

Cana grinned. "I'm always happy, what are you talking about?"

"Babe, you got anything to eat around her?" A muffled voice called out from the background before Cana covered the mouthpiece and called back.

Lucy and Levy were both waiting expectantly when she returned. "What?" she asked.

"Oh come on," Levy said.

"Was that Bacchus?" Lucy asked.

"Who else would it be? I want details! How long has this been going on?" Levy laid down, angling her phone so the lamp didn't turn her into a black blob.

"A little while," Cana answered, "but it's not a big deal. There's no relationship or anything, it's just sex."

Lucy only grinned as Levy tried to probe further. She knew if she said the wrong thing, Cana would undoubtedly figure out what she'd done the previous night, and she didn't want the questions.

"So where's Juvia?" Cana asked eventually, in a final attempt to change the subject.

"She's traveling with Gray today," Lucy answered, taking pity on her friend. "I doubt she'll pay any attention to her phone while she's away, so I wouldn't expect her to join us." She rolled onto her stomach.

"I still don't see- Lucy what is that?" Cana's face moved in so close only her nose and one eye were visible in her picture.

"What's what?" Lucy asked.

"Oh my gosh," Levy gasped, "you have a hickey!"

"What?" Lucy felt her cheeks begin to burn. "What are you talking about?"

"On your boob, blondie." Cana's face pulled back again, her smile wide and eyes knowing. "You can't hide something like that from me."

Lucy looked down and realized her tank top had gotten pulled down when she'd rolled over. She groaned as she pulled it up to hide the bite mark on her breast. "It's just a bruise, guys."

"Put there by a man's mouth," Cana argued. "So, did you finally ride that roommate of yours?"

"Cana!"

"Seriously Lu, who _else_ would it be?" Levy asked. "It's been pretty obvious the last few weeks that you're into him, and you're not the type of girl to bang just anyone. I thought you two weren't dating?"

_So much for keeping things quiet for a while_. Lucy sighed. "We've been dating for a little while, but the physical stuff only started happening last night."

Lucy's response was met with squeals from Levy and woots from Cana.

"That's amazing, Lu!" Levy said. "I'm so glad you've found someone special!"

"So was he any good?" Cana asked, her face coming up close to the camera. "You look pretty tired. Does that mean it was a, ahem, late night?"

"She's even still in bed," Levy added. "Were you not able to walk this morning? Oh!" Her eyes lit up. "Did he bring you breakfast in bed?!"

"Or were _you_ breakfast in bed?" Cana asked with a wiggle of her eyes.

Lucy groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "It's not like that. It's not that simple. He…"

"Was so good you're speechless?" Cana finished for her.

"No, it's not- well, I wouldn't say he wasn't-"

Levy began to squeal again. "Lucy, that's so amazing, I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah yeah, we're glad she got boned," Cana said. "I want deets, Heartfilia, so spill."

Lucy sighed, not sure she wanted to share her special night with them, but she knew she wouldn't get away with telling them nothing. She told them about Natsu's gift and played it off as a romantic picnic dinner with stargazing that just evolved. Which was somewhat true.

"So you guys didn't actually…" Levy trailed off.

"No, I just- I don't know. I didn't feel ready for it."

Cana snorted. "It's sooner than she did anything with what's his face."

Levy nodded. "That's true. It took you over a year to sleep with your last boyfriend, so Natsu must be pretty dang special."

"Of course he is," Lucy said, a small smile spreading across her face. "He's… he's amazing."

Levy clapped her hands together in front of her mouth as Cana smiled. "Well we're happy for you, lady. Wait." Cana pulled the phone close again. "Where is Natsu?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. Napping maybe?"

"Why isn't he napping with you?" Levy asked. "I was pretty sure I woke you up from a nap when I called."

"Not quite. I was kind of dozing, but I hadn't been in here long. We were doing some last minute set up before tomorrow and I just wanted to lay down for a while."

"I'm sorry we won't be there," Levy apologized with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to my old man showing up today, but I owe him some time since he's making the effort." Cana shrugged. "Maybe I'll introduce him to Bacchus and mess with him a bit."

"You're lucky, Cana." Lucy rolled onto her back again. "You have a father who obviously loves you and dotes on you."

"When he's around," Cana said with a frown.

"You know he tries to come home as often as he can," Levy said. "His work just keeps him busy."

"Speaking of busy," Cana cut in, "when are you going to get busy wtih Gajeel?"

Levy's cheeks instantly went red and she began to stutter, causing the other two to shoot up from their relaxed positions and begin firing off questions.

In the hall, Natsu sneaked away back to the kitchen. He'd gone to ask Lucy about lunch, but decided not to interrupt. Hearing about Lucy being with someone else physically… the thought made his stomach burn and his fists clench. That someone else had seen her body and made her move the way he had…

Natsu jerked back when he realized his fist had lit on fire, burning the wall next to him. He quickly used his magic to fix the damage and made his way to the kitchen to distract himself with food.

Well, even if she had, it didn't sound like the guy had been so great, unlike what she'd said about him.

_He's… he's amazing._

Those words spun around and around his head, making him smile and slowly pulling him out of the spiral his thoughts had started down.

Lucy was the amazing one. The woman had no idea how truly special she was. He'd met demons and dragons, humans and fae, gods and angels, and so many other races, but _no one_ could compare to her. To her beauty, her kindness, her grace. She was the most wonderful person in all the realms and deserved everything that she could ever want.

With that in mind, Natsu began to make them lunch. He had to top his gift to her, but he didn't know how yet. Seeing her light up as she had, to see and feel the amount of happiness she'd felt, made him want to do it over and over and over again. Surely he could find something that great again.

By the time lunch had finished cooking, Natsu had begun to think about his missing friend. Not Happy this time, but that presence in his skull that seemed as devoted to Lucy as he was. He'd thought long and hard, trying to figure out what it could be, but he hadn't come up with much. He was certain it had something to do with Lucy, since he'd never sensed it before meeting her. Not to mention that it only showed up when she was around, or he was thinking particularly hard about her.

Except for today.

That worried Natsu. So far, his best guess was that it had just tired itself out being so present the previous night.

Despite it not taking over, it had been more involved the previous night, helping him when his instincts couldn't. It was almost as though its entire purpose was to please Lucy; to be devoted to her.

Combined with the times it made the fire in his belly burn even hotter, he was reminded of the stories his father had told him about dragon mates. His father had told him about how each dragon had one true mate. Someone who, if found, would earn that dragon's devotion, love, and protection for the entirety of the dragon's life. Not only that, but a dragon could draw on immense reserves of magical power for their mate that they could not reach otherwise.

The stories always made Natsu feel a little sad, since his father had lost his mate so many years before he'd been born. He'd never met them and he knew that the loss had been a huge hole in his father's life, one Igneel had said had been healed by his presence.

Natsu knew better. He'd been able to sense the sadness that lingered in his father every day that he lived. Despite the love he'd had for Natsu, he'd missed his mate, and no one could fill that hole.

Natsu finished putting the food on the already set table and went to get Lucy.

Perhaps he should try to get in touch with Grandeeney… She might be able to help him.


	57. Chapter 57

**Happy Saturday readers. Hope you enjoy!**

**For those reading the NSFW version, there is an alternate chapter over there just waiting for a read! Go check it out.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy huffed as she began to fling more clothes across her bed. "I know it's here somewhere…"

Her guests were going to start arriving soon and she hadn't finished getting ready yet. Well, she was as ready as she had intended to be, but Natsu's late night visit had left a very visible mark near her neck and there wasn't a single shirt in her closet that covered it, so she needed her green scarf.

"How on earth could it go missing in just a _week?_" she groaned. She'd torn apart her closet, even gone through her dirty clothes basket and looked under her bed with no luck. With a sigh, she straightened and looked around her room one last time before calling for Natsu.

He appeared at her door, a bright smile on his face. "What's up, Luce?"

"Can you help me find my green scarf?"

He frowned. "Why do you wanna wear a scarf inside? Isn't it warm enough?"

"Yes, but _someone_ decided to leave marks on me last night and I don't want to flaunt them in front of our company." When Natsu's eyes zeroed in on her bruised skin, Lucy self consciously raised a hand to cover it. "Stop staring at it."

"Sorry," he said. He frowned as he moved forward and pulled her into a hug. "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry." He sighed. "And I told you I wouldn't do any of the weird demon stuff to you. Not that I think that was a demon thing," he thought out loud, "but still. I'm really sorry."

Lucy hugged him closer, but pulled away when a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute…" She squinted up at him as he pulled away to meet her gaze. "You haven't offered to heal it yet." In all the time she'd known him, the one thing she could rely on was him offering to magic away any inconvenience he caused.

Natsu gulped as he looked away. "So? Is that what you want?"

"Whether I want it or not doesn't matter right now. The point is that you haven't offered, and you offer all the time for things that don't leave any mark at all." She tipped her head as she studied him. "Why not?"

Natsu's face twitched a little and he tried to find an excuse, but the truth came out before he could. "I… don't want to, because… I, uh… I like… it…"

Lucy's eyebrows shot up. "You like that I have a bruise?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I… like to see my mark on you." He looked away again, clearly uncomfortable. "I'm not sure if it's a demon or a dragon or a me thing, but I do."

Heat pooled in Lucy's stomach but she ignored it as she pulled his face back her way. "Well, as long as you can find my scarf, I won't ask you to fix it for me, how does that sound?" She pulled away and began to search again, trying to work off the desire building up in her body. "I just don't want to flash a hickey in front of my new neighbors. And Loke will have a hayday if I have this out on display."

Natsu frowned but decided he didn't care what the angel thought. He owned Natsu some explanations, and until he got them, Loke could stuff his opinion right up his-

"Do you have a spell for this?" Lucy asked, breaking him from his thoughts. "I really need to find it before people start arriving."

"Sorry, yeah, I can find it." Natsu raised his hand and a ball of red light formed in it. "Come here." When Lucy stopped in front of him, he held his hand out. "Bring up a picture of the scarf in your mind, and when you're focusing on it, squeeze the light in your hand."

Lucy nodded and raised her hand, carefully closing her entire hand around the orb. After a moment, she cursed. "Are you kidding me?"

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot that I let Levy borrow it. It's in her suitcase, which is with her at her parents' house." The doorbell rang and Lucy looked over her shoulder in a panic. "Natsu, you have to fix it!"

Loath to remove his mark, Natsu began to unwind the scarf from around his neck. "Here, wear mine instead."

"But-"

"No buts, just wear it." Once it was secure, he turned her around and pushed her toward the door. "Come on, guests are waiting."

"But-"

Natsu cut her off again. "Stop arguing. It looks great on you and we don't have time for me to fix it."

Lucy twisted around as they entered the kitchen. "That's not what I was going to say."

"What were you going to say then?"

"I just wanted to remind you that you can't be so grabby in front of company," she said as she adjusted his scarf. "Some touching is fine, of course, but it should be more like how we were before we started… this," she said, waving a hand between them.

"I'll be on my best behavior," Natsu promised.

"Good. You go get Happy and I'll get the door."

Natsu grinned at her as he leaned in for a quick kiss before heading towards his room. Lucy swatted at him, but missed as he laughed and walked away. When she finally opened the door, she was surprised to see Loke, since Plue had not announced his arrival. "Hey Loke."

"Hey!" Loke gave her a one armed hug before fully stepping into the entryway. "Long time no see."

"Longer than usual at any rate." She took the dish he held out to her and went to place it on the counter. "I'm glad you were able to make it."

"Of course I made it," he said as he pulled a few gifts out of the bag in his hand. "I can't miss Christsmas with my favorite princess."

Lucy sighed. "You can stop that any time you know."

"Don't think I will," he said with a grin.

"Didn't you say you were bringing Manda and Aries?"

"I was, but they had a last minute errand to run. I gave them your address, so they could find their way once they're done."

"Sounds good." Lucy reached down to grab her box of extra serving spoons from a cupboard and when she stood again, Natsu's scarf caught on the handle and came partially off. "Whoops." She stood and worked on fixing it, not aware of the intense look in Loke's eyes. She finished and then began to sort through the spoons.

"Is Natsu here?" Loke asked.

"Yeah, he's just hanging out with his friend Happy." She gestured towards the living room. "He might be in there, otherwise he might be in his room."

"I'm going to go say hi," Loke said as he began to walk passed. "Unless you want help?"

"Nope, I'm good." She flashed him a smile. "Thanks for offering."

"No problem." Loke quickly made his way to Natsu's room and entered without so much as knocking.

Natsu and Happy jerked away from each other, the looks on their faces telling Loke they'd been in some sort of heated argument.

"_What did you do, Natsu?"_ Loke hissed quietly.

Natsu frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"What. Did. You. Do." Each word was spit out with barely contained violence. "Tell me you didn't."

Happy looked back and forth between the pair. "Should I leave?"

"Yeah Happy, go help Lucy. I'll deal with him." Natsu crossed his arms, confusion coloring his features through his own anger. When Happy had finally left, the hybrid reached behind him, opened a box near the window and flipped over the large flat stone inside.

Immediately the room shifted, and Loke could tell they were in the Inbetween, so he didn't try to remain quiet any longer. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he roared.

"_I_ didn't do anything," Natsu answered, not at all phased by the angel's anger. His shouting was as scary as a cub compared to the anger he'd felt from his father on occasion. "You on the other hand have been very cryptic, and I'd like some answers from you first."

"No." A golden aura began to appear around Loke, his angelic appearance beginning to come through as his eyes glowed bright. "Tell me you didn't bond with her. Tell me now so I don't have to kill you."

"Bond? With who?" Confusion broke through his anger. "What are you talking about? I've never met my mate, so how would I bond to them?"

"You bit Lucy," Loke accused.

Natsu glanced away. "So? That has nothing to do with anything. What I have with her is… well, it's none of your business."

Instantly, Loke's glow and aura disappeared and he stared at Natsu in shock. _How could he have not realized by now?_

Loke had always been under the impression that dragons could not lay with their mates without realizing who they were. That Natsu had, and even started the bonding ritual, if the bite on Lucy was anything to go by, without figuring it out… would he ever?

Loke rubbed his hands over his face as he began to pace. "Why me? Why did I have to deal with _this_? Being the strongest guardian angel does not mean I am the most patient." He groaned out loud, the volume increasing slowly but surely, until he was out of air. "Where is Capricorn when I need him? He's so much better at these kinds of things than I am."

Natsu sat on his bed to watch the angel pace, his anger slowly cooling as he watched the other man lose his mind. "You wanna tell me what's going on? I don't know what kind of thing you're talking about, but I find that being straightforward and honest is the easiest way to tell someone something."

"Stop trying to be so calm and wise, I know you're pissed at me."

Natsu chuckled. "I'm not so sure you can handle my anger in the state you're in."

"Don't mock me, Natsu. You have no idea how much stress I'm under." Loke glared at him. "I am in charge of guarding the life of someone who is quite probably the most important person to ever live, after the first Heartfilia queen, anyway, and _you_ are trying to ruin it for me."

"_Me?_" Natsu blinked several times. "What the hell am _I_ doing that's making your job so hard?"

"Being here!" Loke took a deep breath. He kept reminding himself about Happy's warnings, about the fact that he couldn't just bring it up to Natsu that he was obviously bonded to Lucy and that she was his mate. "Lucy should not be able to make a contract with you. She is already bound to an angel, and having you around, not to mention the other demons, is wreaking havoc on my patience. I want you all to go away and allow me to continue as I have for the last decade, preserving Lucy's life in the background while maintaining a friendship with her."

"You'll have her all to yourself in less than a year, just chill out." Natsu rose to his feet. "Besides, I think the people kidnapping her are the big problem, not me."

"Yes, but the increased magical presence with you around is what tipped them off on where to find her."

The hybrid paused. "What? You have angels all over the place here, how is this my fault?"

"I didn't before." Loke moved to sit on the one chair in the room. "It used to be just me and Aries in a borrowed body, to dampen her powers. We weren't enough to draw their attention, since angels do hang out here, but with the increased magic from you and your friend that neither of you bothered to hide, it drew the vultures and now they all know where she is. I had to bring in the others as a deterrent. Without them, the people after her would try more often. With so many angels around, I'm at least making it harder for them to get her."

He sighed and sat back in his chair. "It doesn't matter. Let's clear up the air on your end. Go ahead and yell at me. I'm too drained at this point to fight back, so maybe you can get whatever off your chest and one of us can feel better."

Natsu sat on his bed once more as he eyed Loke's tired look. "I still don't understand why we had to lie to Lucy. I don't like to lie. I'm not good at it."

"Good enough, since she doesn't suspect anything."

"I still don't like it," Natsu repeated. "Why can't we just tell her who you are and what's going on? If we did, she could be prepared. We could maybe even convince her to move somewhere else and then they wouldn't know where she is."

"I can't," Leo said. "Under the original agreement, not to mention at the behest of her mother and many other previous generations, we are not allowed to let her know of her importance to the magical community. I am not allowed to tell her who I really am, or even that magic exists.

"You are an anomaly. She knows more than she should because of you, but there's nothing in our contract that says she can't find out from another source. Because you had your own contract in place before I found out what was going on, I couldn't do anything to get rid of you in time. The legal system is hard to navigate, but only the involvement of the kings can break a contract between two people that don't wish to break it, and since yours has not endangered ours, _much_, I have not spoken to my king about it. Yet.

"Not to mention Lucy's life is here. I am supposed to keep her safe and allow her to live the most normal life she can. Moving her across the world somewhere else isn't what she wants, so I have to make this work instead."

Loke looked up. "Does that appease you? Can we move on now?"

Natsu sighed. "Fine. But I still think she should have her memories back."

"Giving them back in any capacity would be a violation of the contract. I can not do that."

"I could."

Loke froze, half risen from the chair. After a beat, he slowly finished standing and moved to stand in front of Natsu. "You will not do that," he said quietly but firmly. "You will not remind her about what happened, or help her to remember. Remember, she saw a dangerous, out of control side of you. Do you really want her to relive that? To see what Natsu Dragneel can truly become?" Loke hated to lie, but he would use any tool in his arsenal to keep Natsu from ruining his job.

Natsu frowned, not sure he'd heard right. From what Virgo had told him, Lucy hadn't seen him in the arena. How long had it taken her to pull out his dragon side? Had she really seen the demon locked inside of him?

Loke reached over and flipped the rock over, shifting them back out of the Inbetween. "Remember to put that scarf back on as soon as this party is over. Just heal the bruise on Lucy and be done with it. I know you can. Unless…" Loke looked over his shoulder, his hand on the door handle. "You chose not to remove it for a reason?"

Natsu didn't respond, just glared.

The angel nodded once. "I thought so. One more thing." He turned to face Natsu. "You are not, under any circumstance, allowed to bond with Lucy, understand?"

Natsu frowned. "I already told you, I can only do that with my mate. Lucy will be fine."

"As long as you keep your fangs out of her," Loke said and then left the room.

Natsu hung back for a moment, an itch starting under his skin. He was confused and annoyed, so it didn't surprise him that the buzz had already started.

Why had Loke brought up the bonding thing, not once, but twice? He remembered talking to his father about bonds a few times, but never specifics about finding them. From what he'd heard it was a pretty obvious thing, so he should have no problem figuring out who it was, once he met them anyway.

Of course he wouldn't bond with Lucy. Besides her not being his mate, he'd never heard of a dragon mate being a human. Dragon mates had to be magical beings, so that they were able to carry and birth dragon children. Human bodies couldn't handle that sort of thing.

Natsu made a note to have Happy talk to Grandeeney later.

With a quick breath and a shake, he went into the living room, determined to help Lucy have a good Christmas.


	58. Chapter 58

**Anyone else realize as Lucy's new neighbors introduced themselves many chapters ago that their Earth names start with the same letter as their real names? Probably not, since I freaking MIXED UP THE NAMES- YOU GUYS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I think I fixed it. At least I hope it's fixed. **

**I had so many ideas for this get together. It would be the perfect thing to see, I think, with so many different magical beings, trying not to reveal themselves or the others (because everyone there knew the others' real identities,) with one only somewhat clueless Lucy. So many ideas. But I liked doing this instead. I liked leaving those scenes to you guys to write for yourselves. Imagining what it would be like to see the Exceeds scrambling to cover something with Lucy - for Lucy's sake - while the others pretended not to notice - for Lucy's sake. It would be a glorious episode, and right up Fairy Tail's alley, don't you think?**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Uh, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Everything okay?"

Natsu itched the side of his neck. "Of course, why do you ask?"

"Because you've been glaring at Maverick ever since Lucy sat down next to him."

Natsu yanked his hand away from his neck once he realized what he was doing and turned towards Happy. "I am not glaring at him."

Happy raised an eyebrow at him. "Did he do something wrong?"

"Of course not." Natsu looked back over and saw that one of the Leezar's hands was on Lucy's leg while the other pointed at the pictures in her scrapbook. "_Why is he touching her_?" he hissed under his breath.

"Seriously Natsu, get it together," Happy warned. "You're going to do something stupid if you don't just calm down. He's not doing anything wrong."

"He's touching Lucy," Natsu said again.

"So? They're having fun." Lucy began to laugh, causing Maverick to blush, but she just continued to talk to him about whatever was in the book, not looking at all bothered by the proximity. "His mate's right across the room and he doesn't have a problem, so why are _you_ getting all bent out of shape?"

Natsu waved a hand in front of his face as soon as he saw smoke rising from his nose. It was true- Ova appeared to be having a perfectly calm conversation with Wendy, Carla and Pantherlily, not at all bothered by his mate's proximity to another person.

So why was Natsu one casual touch away from jumping him and putting his fist in his face?

"They're just talking. Seriously Natsu, if you're having problems, you need to get your scarf back." Happy crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "Don't make me call Erza here."

Natsu's eyes widened and he whipped his head Happy's way. "Why would you call her?!"

"Because she would be able to convince you to get your act together." Happy stood and fixed his shirt. "You're already going against the rules by taking your scarf off. She wouldn't be pleased if she showed up and saw you acting like you are. She'd blame your demon side and beat you senseless."

It was only after Happy walked away that Natsu realized what he'd said. The Exceed made it sound like something else was causing his anger.

But what could that be?

Lucy looked up as Loke came to talk to her and then hopped up with a smile. "The food is done everyone! You can start serving yourselves in the kitchen."

Everyone got up, chatting excitedly, so Natsu used the distraction to sneak over to Lucy and pull her into the hall. It was obvious Loke noticed, but he didn't say anything as the pair disappeared from sight.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" Lucy asked with a smile. "I've never known you to walk in the opposite direction of food."

He wasn't sure, not first, but as Lucy looked up at him with her beautiful smile and soft curves, he felt an intense urge to remind her who she was with.

With no words, no sounds, he pressed her up against the wall and fused his mouth to hers. Her shocked gasp was completely silenced by his mouth, as was the content sigh that followed. Natsu pressed his body against her, branding the feel of his body against hers as he ravaged her mouth.

Meanwhile, Lucy's head was spinning. At first she had wanted to scold him and remind him about what they had talked about before everyone got there, but then she could do nothing more than try to survive the onslaught that was Natsu. He touched her everywhere, thoroughly filling her senses with his taste, his feel, his scent. Her body burned, aching for him to strip her clothes off and take her to her bed. As though he knew, he began to tug her towards her room, his mouth never leaving hers.

"Wait," she gasped as she finally pulled her mouth away from his. His mouth merely moved on to her cheek and then her neck. He growled as he nuzzled her skin, his arms gently trying to guide her once more down the hallway.

"Natsu, we can't do this right now." She worked on catching her breath as he continued to nuzzle her. "Natsu…"

"Mine," he whispered. "Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine…" When he finally pulled back, she was only somewhat surprised to find the nearly solid golden eyes staring back at her. "_Mine…"_

"You've said that before," Lucy responded. Natsu's eyes changed completely to gold before he wrapped himself around her. "When are you going to let the rest of you in on the secret?"

The dragon purred and Lucy panicked as she saw his skin begin to fade into his red scales. She pulled on his arms until they were in her room. The dragon grinned and tried to start pulling off her clothes, but Lucy grabbed his hands.

"Wait." She held his hands firmly in front of her and stared into his eyes. "Please, listen to me. You're not helping him by doing this."

The dragon growled a little, but did nothing else to fight back.

"Natsu is never going to figure things out if you keep coming out like this. You need to be patient. I don't… I don't fully understand what this mate thing includes, but I do know that it'll be dangerous for Natsu if he doesn't figure things out. The way I see it, the longer it takes, the better the chances are that things don't work out right and he gets hurt. Which means bad things for you, too, since you're a part of him." The red scales began to retreat from Natsu's skin and the golden eyes staring at her lost most of their glow as the dragon hung his head.

"I like you, I do, but you should learn how to share with Natsu so you can see me, okay? I like this," she said as she raised his face towards her again. "I like looking into these eyes and seeing you in there with Natsu. But I want to see you both in there _together_, okay? It's… I don't like seeing you overpower him like this, taking control away from him. He always looks so lost afterward, and I can't do anything to help him without giving things away. Do you understand?"

The dragon nodded and then carefully led her back into the hallway. Once she was back against the wall, he leaned down and rubbed his face gently against hers a few times, purring softly.

"It's okay," Lucy said. "Natsu is smart. He'll figure it out soon."

The look in his eyes told Lucy he didn't believe her, but he leaned down and kissed her again, gently this time, and when Lucy opened her eyes again, solid onyx was staring down at her.

"I'm sorry," Natsu whispered. Lucy held her breath, eyes wide as she sucked in a breath. Had he been aware as she spoke to him? She could have sworn the dragon had taken control.

"What for?"

"For dragging you off." Natsu pulled away to vigorously rub his face. "I just… I felt so… _weird_ watching you with Maverick. I didn't like how close he was to you, or how he was touching you so casually. It made me feel like I had to stake a claim on you or something, but that's crazy." He itched at the skin of his arms as he looked passed her at the wall. "I'm sorry. I'm acting crazy. Can I…"

"Can you what?" she asked when he fell silent.

"Can I fix the bruise and have my scarf back?"

"Of course," Lucy said as she immediately unwound it and held it out.

Natsu gave her a grateful smile as he put it back around his own neck and then used his magic to erase the bite marks and bruise from her skin. He still wasn't sure what Happy had meant earlier, but he felt better with his scarf on, more in control of himself.

"Thank you."

"It's not a problem." Lucy pulled her necklace up from where it hid under her shirt. It was gold, with a golden key depicting the symbol of Aquarius. Her mother's, she'd told him once, that she had kept after her death. "I know that sometimes it helps to have something like that when you feel weird in your own skin- it helps to have something from a loved one close by. Never feel bad about asking for the scarf back. It's not a bad thing that a reminder from him makes you feel better."

Natsu's throat swelled and he couldn't manage any words as he pulled Lucy to him and hugged her.

When he finally pulled away, he blinked back tears and gently nudged her ahead of himself towards the living room. "Come on, let's get some food in you."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I ate today. You, on the other hand, skipped breakfast."

Lucy puffed up her cheeks. "I was busy!"

"Yeah yeah, now get in there and get some food."

Instead of arguing further, Lucy just twined her fingers with his and dragged him with her.

* * *

"Uh… I think it's a blanket?"

"It's actually a scarf."

Laughter. "That's not a scarf."

"Of course it is."

"No, _this_ is a scarf."

"They make more than one kind of scarf Natsu!"

"Whatever you say."

* * *

"Oooo, this candle smells amazing!"

"Pass it around."

Some hums of agreement, and a few coughs.

"That does not smell good."

"Well not if you stick your whole face in it!"

"How am I supposed to smell it if I don't put my nose in there!"

"You smell it from a distance!"

"Sounds like a bad candle to me."

* * *

"I don't think I understand what this is."

"It looks like a small bath."

"But it makes bubbles."

"Jets do not make bubbles."

"Well they do, but not like the kind you're thinking of."

"Guys… It's a foot bath."

"How bad do your feet have to smell in order to have their own bath?"

Lots of laughter.

* * *

Lucy groaned as she finally sank into her couch, the last of her guests gone and the dishes finally done. Natsu was humming to himself in the kitchen as he worked on drying dishes and putting them away.

She'd been surprised when he jumped in and started to help, since he'd expressed on many occasions how much he didn't like doing them. She assumed it was because of the holiday and allowed him to do it while she finally relaxed.

Christmas had been a success. Even with a group of people who didn't know each other, everyone had gotten along amazingly well. There'd been no drinking contest, no spilled alcohol on her carpet, no gift wrap throwing during the white elephant game. It had been so much more tame than the usual get togethers with her friends, and she had enjoyed every minute. The food had been good, the game had been fun, and they had a tentative agreement to have everyone over again next year.

Natsu had even been on his bed behavior, to a point. He'd been helpful, friendly, and an all around great host. The few times he'd touched her, whether to hold her hand or squeeze her butt, he'd been subtle and hid it well. It made her hopeful for where they might go.

Her smile faded as she was reminded, once again, that they wouldn't go anywhere. Whatever relationship they had, it would be gone in less than a year. But they would remain friends- they'd already promised. All she had to do was not fall in love with him and they could part on good terms.

As Natsu came in, a cup of hot chocolate in his hands, Lucy felt something inside her ache at the thought.

"Here you go," he said holding out the cup to her. "I heated it up by hand so the cup is hot. You'll have to hold it by the handle for a little bit."

"Thank you," she whispered, tears threatening to form in her eyes.

She didn't want this to end, she realized. Sure, she was a little inexperienced in the dating department, but she knew without a doubt that she would never find someone better than Natsu. He was naive a lot of the time, but she knew he was extremely intelligent. He was so careful and gentle with her, not because she was a human and weaker than him, but because he cared about her. He was attentive, always there to help when she needed him and laser focused when it mattered. He was funny and kind and attractive and wonderful and…

Lucy was worried she'd already broken her one rule about dating him.

"I have something for you," she said suddenly. She shot to her feet, nearly causing her drink to spill over the side. "I'll be right back."

Natsu frowned as he sat on the couch and watched Lucy walk away. He'd felt everything she'd just felt, but couldn't sort through what had caused it. She'd been content, as far as he'd thought, until he brought her the drink. Then she'd felt happy, and then something warm he couldn't quite describe, and then pain had sliced through everything and turned to mild panic as she ran off.

When her emotions had leveled out, she finally returned, her smile in place and eyes a little shiny, but appearing fine nonetheless.

"Here," she said, handing him a box wrapped in red paper. "Merry Christmas."

Natsu took the gift and blinked up at her. "Do you want me to open it now?"

"Of course, silly. Why else would I give it to you." She sat on the coffee table across from him and began to wring her hands. "I didn't think it would be a good idea to give it to you while everyone else was here."

Natsu cocked his head to the side as he studied the box.

"No magic!" she scolded.

He grinned at her, but refrained from using his magic to figure out what it was. It was a little bigger than his two hands, and had some weight to it. Nothing inside moved when he shook it, meaning it had been packaged well enough to keep it from moving. Perhaps something breakable?

He put his nose to the edge of the paper and breathed, only to pull back and cough a moment later. "What did you do? Cover the box in cheyenne pepper?"

"Yes," Lucy responded with a grin. "I knew you'd try to figure out what it was before opened it and I wanted it to be more difficult."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at her before smiling. "Challenge accepted." He put the box to his nose again, careful as he breathed so he didn't suck in more of the powder. "I think I smell… something chemically. And wood?"

Lucy's smile faltered a little and then she crossed her arms as she pouted. "Should have used more powder…"

"I still don't know what it is," Natsu reminded her as he began to pull the paper off. Usually he would have shredded the paper without a thought, but it was obvious that she had taken special care to wrap his gift, so he took his time, anxious to find out what she'd gotten him. When he eventually got the box open and pulled out a few pieces of styrofoam, Natsu's mouth dropped open.

He carefully pulled out the sculpture, and placed in on this lap to examine.

It was a dragon, carved from wood with pale paint covering the scales and belly to blend with the grain. The dragon was mid flight, with achingly familiar scars on its body and smiling face.

"There's a woman in town who carves and does commissions. It took some time, but I was eventually able to get something together that looked how I wanted it to. She doesn't usually paint her work, but I got her to add some water based stuff so it was the right color." Lucy bit her lip as she watched him continue to stare. "Do you like it?"

Natsu was speechless, unable to think up the words, let alone say them outloud as he stared at what was as perfect a likeness to his father as he had ever seen. How had Lucy done this? How had she known exactly what he looked like, down to the scars and the smile?

Emotions crashed around him and he was unable to do anything as tears flooded his eyes and fell down his cheeks.

It had been years since he'd seen his father. Years since he'd heard his voice, seen his face, been surrounded by his love. But he was seeing him now, doing the thing he loved most of all- flying.

"Thank you." The words finally made their way out of Natsu's mouth in a gasp and he hugged the carving close to his chest.

Lucy felt a weight lift from her chest as she watched Natsu. She'd been so worried about the gift, so anal about the details that she was sure Laki was glad to be rid of her from the shop. Natsu had described his father to her just once, and when he had, she had realized it was the dragon she had dreamt about so many times, flying with her high in the sky as she raced away from the dark clouds that steadily followed them.

She wasn't sure how she'd dreamt of him when she'd never seen him before, and hadn't heard of him until after, but she was glad she had. Because the emotions Natsu was going through were clearly the exact things she was feeling when she'd been reunited with her mother's clearing.

"You're welcome," Lucy whispered as she moved to the couch and let him cry into her arms.

Where she accepted that yes, she had broken her one rule.

She'd fallen in love with Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

**I know you guys have been waiting for Natsu to put two and two together and come up with four instead of fire, but in the meantime… hopefully this keeps you happy.**

**And for those that don't know, the white elephant game is a gift giving game. If you have friends that are bad at responding on time to gatherings or not showing up at last minute (like mine,) it's a great alternative. Everyone brings a gift in an agreed upon monetary range, and sometimes gag gifts, so that there is a gift for everyone. There are different ways to do it, but most involve rolling dice to pick gifts from the middle, and a timed round where doubles allow you to steal/ trade gifts for others. It's rather fun, and it really makes gift giving easier, since you're not buying for a specific person.**


	59. Chapter 59

**My brain is full of Minecraft things and the next arc of this story, so I've kind of hit a wall. My apologies for taking so long to get this piece put together.**

**We're getting close to my deadline of December to be done with this, so I think it's okay to let you guys know I have two arcs left. Well, about two and a half, but the half is clean up and wrap up of the story. I've been making notes and evaluating my expectations for how I want to finish this and I am very excited to see what you guys think of the ending.**

**SPOILER ALERT: They're going to have a happy ending. I can't bring myself to not give them that.**

**Also, our little one was difficult at the ultrasound last month, but we found out last week we are having a little girl. I was hoping for another boy, but I'm warming up to the idea. I just hope she isn't **_**too**_ **much like me, or I'll have my work cut out for me, lol.**

**Michiamotippete: I hope it doesn't spoil anything, but Lucy's dreams with Igneel were not memories.**

**Wildfire0707: Glad to have you on board! **

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"So where are you going this time?" Levy asked.

"The Amazon," Lucy answered.

"Really?" Juvia set aside a bowl and moved to lean in towards her phone. "Can you live in the jungle?"

"Well, there are places nearby of course, we'll just be visiting the jungle."

"That sounds like fun," Juvia said.

"You'd better take a lot of pictures," Levy added.

"I will," Lucy promised as she continued to pack.

After a beat, Levy spoke again. "So I have a question. Well, we all do."

"What's that?" Lucy set aside the clothes in her hands, concerned about the tone in Levy's voice.

"Well, we were wondering… why you're still helping Natsu look for somewhere to live?"

"What? Why would I stop helping him?"

"We don't think you should stop helping him," Juvia corrected.

"We think you should try to convince him to… live a little closer," Levy said.

"Like in Magnolia," Juvia finished.

Lucy felt tears prick her eyes as she returned to her packing, avoiding looking at her phone. There were still months to go before Natsu would leave, but every time she thought about it, it hurt a little bit more than the last time.

And then Natsu would feel it and ask what was wrong, or try to make her feel better. It was hard enough thinking about it- it was too much to have him try to fix it.

"These trips are also a chance for us to explore and spend time together. Not to mention I've been writing articles about my trips for the magazine, and I'd like to keep doing that for as long as I can."

"Oh don't try to use work as an excuse," Levy said. "We know you love writing about fashion, so this has nothing to do with that."

"Guys-"

"We think you're avoiding being happy," Juvia said quietly.

"_What?_ Why would I do that?"

"Because of the first one." Juvia's eyes were sad, but fierce. Lucy appreciated that she didn't use his name. They'd agreed to never use that name around her again.

Juvia continued. "You have avoided any and all relationships getting serious ever since you dated him. Not all men are the enemy, Lucy. We think you can trust Natsu. He is honest and sweet and he treats you very well."

"Even with the inheritance, he's not acting like some stuck up snob or trying to buy you with gifts," Levy added. "He spends time with you, cooks for you, and he buys you sensible gifts."

"Not to mention the way he looks at you," Juvia pointed out. "Juvia would kill for her beloved to look at her in such a way."

Levy sighed. "It's a little off topic, so we'll come back to it, but for the record, I've seen Gray look at you in a similar way more than once."

Juvia lit up. "Really?!"

"Focus," Levy said. "Lu, we love you. We trust your judgement, and we don't want to tell you how to live your life, but Natsu is the real deal. We know you love him, even if you haven't admitted it to yourself, and we think you need to fight for him."

"Agreed."

Lucy swallowed and took a deep breath.

This wasn't like the first time, she knew that. The first time had been terrible. It had been because of her father. It had resulted in the most traumatic experience of her life. It had been nothing like this.

But this wasn't anything that could last.

Natsu would go home, and she would be left her to lick her wounds. She would put on a brave face and go on with her life, maintaining a friendship with Natsu because that was what she agreed to.

She'd live out her life with a demon popping in every so often to say hi before running off to his own world again. Lucy had no doubt the wound be ripped open every time he visited, and she'd have to put the bandage back on herself when he was gone and try to pull herself together.

What if she never married? Would they continue the way they were now? Would he stay for a day or two, use her body in ways that would haunt her dreams for months after, and then return home, still friends?

Could she handle that if he asked?

There were so many questions, and the more she asked, the more she seemed to have.

If only she had been able to keep her heart locked up. Maybe she shouldn't have started their relationship. Maybe she should have ignored the kisses. Maybe she should have ignored what Happy told her, ignored the fact that she is Natsu's mate. Maybe she should ask what that actually means for her.

Or maybe she should have sent him back when she first summoned him.

"Lu, are you listening to us?"

"Yes," Lucy said, her voice thick with tears. She cursed silently as she turned her back to her phone and continued to pack.

"Lucy?"

"Lu…"

"It's nothing, I have to go. Natsu's calling for me." Lucy blindly reached for her phone and ended the call before tossing it on the bed.

The tears fell freely as she sat on the edge and buried her face in her hands.

She'd really screwed up.

She _really_ shouldn't have fallen in love with a demon.

* * *

It was somewhere over Mexico, as Natsu brought her to yet _another_ orgasm in their private magical bubble on the plane, that she decided giving her heart to Natsu had been foolish, but the relationship was definitely not.

* * *

Lucy sighed as she laid back in her chair and allowed the breeze to cool her. She was alone, for once, so she fully intended to enjoy the quiet while it lasted.

Natsu had settled them many miles from the Amazon, but she wasn't complaining. They were at a resort on the coast of Peru that had a long stretch of private beach and cabins spaced far enough apart you felt like you were there alone.

As she drifted in and out of sleep, Lucy wondered if she'd ever felt this relaxed.

She'd been to nice locations in the past of course. Her father had treated them to vacations in more than one beautiful place around the world, but she had never felt this kind of peace before. Maybe when her mother was still alive, but not since then. Even when her father had taken her when she'd been older, there had been expectations she'd had to fulfill and she'd been forced to act like the proper young lady for her father's guests, in any setting. She'd hated those trips.

This, though.

This she liked.

The place they were staying had a full service spa, with every amenity imaginable. Massages, mud baths, facials, pedicures, manicures, body wraps- the whole nine yards and then some. There wasn't a spot on her body that hadn't been pampered by the resort's staff.

Or thoroughly explored by her dragon lover.

Natsu had been insatiable since they'd arrived. She couldn't go more than a few hours without him finding her and dragging her off to a quiet spot to play with her body. He'd even convinced her the previous night to take her clothes off on the front porch. She'd almost been too embarrassed, until he reminded her that his magic could hide them from prying eyes and silence any noises she made.

And she had definitely made noises.

They hadn't gone all the way yet, and Lucy wondered how long Natsu would allow that to continue. She sensed a restlessness in him, or perhaps it was just his dragon, that was unsatisfied with being limited to how he could touch her. She felt it more when the gold saturated his irises and stared at her with a hunger that made her breath come a little faster. She just couldn't bring herself to say yes yet, though.

Lucy still had no idea how their relationship would change, or even if it would, if they finally had sex. Happy hadn't been forthcoming and had been hiding in their realms ever since the party. She could tell Natsu missed him, but knew that she didn't have a good reason to argue to keep him there. Not only that, she knew he liked having the apartment to themselves at night.

She sighed as she sank further into her chair, the faint breeze keeping her just cool enough in the shade as she tried to ignore the many other negative thoughts that tried to come to the forefront of her mind and bother her.

When she felt a touch on her leg, she twitched and then settled again. This happened twice more before a warm hand settled on her knee and familiar lips began to pepper her thigh with kisses, slowly trailing up towards her hip.

Lucy opened her eyes to watch Natsu behind her sunglasses. She was struck once again by how incredibly gorgeous he was, with his tanned skin and windblown hair. His hands on her skin were always so gentle, and watching him slide her legs apart and settle between them always made her body hotter.

"What are you doing, Natsu?" Lucy asked even though she already knew.

"Just playing," he responded, his voice husky as he ran his nose up her leg and breathed in her scent. "I'm glad they finally found a lotion that doesn't overpower your scent. Took them long enough."

"I'm sure they don't normally have to try and appease such a sensitive nose," Lucy reminded him as he reached up and untied the wrap at her waist.

"No doubt, but I did request it when we first arrived. I've hated all those smells on you this week. It made it difficult to find your real scent."

That must be why he'd insisted on her taking so many baths and convinced her to swim so often at night before bed. He'd wanted to wash the smells off of her.

"I'm sorry that you've been so inconvenienced," Lucy said with a grin.

Natsu's responding smile was gentle. "As long as you were enjoying yourself, I didn't mind so much." His fingers lightly tugged on the ties at her hips. "Do you mind?"

Lucy's smile increased as she reached down and slowly untied her bikini bottoms herself. "Of course I don't."

Natsu was over her in a flash, his mouth hot and insistent on hers as he kissed her. Their teeth clacked a little but Lucy didn't care. He was even more thorough when he was aggressive like this, so she sank into the kiss, forgetting everything else around her.

She forgot the conversation with her friends.

She forgot that Natsu would eventually go home.

She forgot about her article and her job.

She forgot about her anxieties about being a dragon mate.

She forgot about her worries over finally sleeping with him.

She forgot about the broken heart in her future.

She forgot her own name.

There was only now, only Natsu, only the feelings he could create in her body.

Only the feeling of his hands on her skin and the reverence in his eyes.

And she revelled in all of it.

* * *

"Natsu, where are we going?" Lucy sighed as she climbed over another large root in their path.

"It's up here," Natsu answered.

"_What_ is up here?"

"You'll see!" He sounded excited, and as annoyed as she was, Lucy couldn't convince herself to be upset with him.

He'd woken up that morning insistent that they head for the jungle while it was still dark. She wasn't sure why this day was so much better than the others, but she hadn't been able to ask. He'd bundled her up in his arms and taken off, effectively keeping her quiet as she dealt with her fear in silence. He'd offered to distract her, but she'd said no. There was no getting used to flying with him if she hid from the experience.

By the time they'd landed, she'd actually felt okay with it. She'd even spent some time watching the landscape fly by below them.

Now, though, she was considering asking him to magic her somewhere not so hot. She loved the heat, but this was _awful_.

It was a wet heat, so she was sweating from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Her socks were damp and uncomfortable and her skin stuck every time it touched other skin. Her shorts were too short, so she was almost certain her thighs were chafing, and she'd finished her water an hour ago.

"_Natsu…_" Lucy whined.

"What's up?" he asked from behind her, causing her to scream and lash out at him.

When her foot made contact, he grunted and was tossed several feet away, right into a tree.

"Natsu! Don't scare me!"

"What are you talking about, Luce?" Lucy whipped around to find Natsu standing behind her, coming from the direction he had been leading her.

"N- Natsu?"

"Yeah? Who else would be out here?"

A groan nearby had both of them looking over. The first Natsu made it to his feet and wiped some of the dirt from his skin. "Geez Luce, did you have to kick me so hard?"

Lucy felt her fear kick up as the first Natsu started to walk her way. He froze when he finally looked up and locked eyes with the other Natsu. "Uh oh."

The blonde turned in time to see the other Natsu's eyes begin to swirl, while red scales appeared peppered across his skin. "_Leave_," he hissed.

There was a pop and a large lizard fell to the ground near the tree before slinking off. Lucy wrapped her arms around herself and moved closer to the real Natsu. "What was that?"

"Mimic. They're a type of demon, but they're not particularly strong. I'll stick closer so you don't run into any more."

"Any _more?_ How do you know there will be more?"

"Because we're almost there," he answered with a grin. "He kind of spoiled the surprise, though. I found a portal that connects this world to the demon realms. It's not easy to get through, not fully anyway, but I can use it to get you into them in a way that will allow you to visit without being in danger."

"I don't understand."

"Basically, you visit the realms as a mirage. Your body stays here and you can't interact with anything, but you can see what they look like."

"If it's so hard to get through, how did that lizard one get here?"

"Not through there. He no doubt felt the energy from it and came here to settle in this world. The guardian in the barrier between worlds will no doubt come through and collect him at some point. That's part of the reason for these in the other realms. The demons miss the feel of home and seek them out, making them easier to catch and return."

They entered a small clearing, and found themselves surrounded by strangely colored animals. There were a pair of monkeys low in the tree, both a strange red shade with solid white eyes. They screeched at the pair and then raced up the tree. Small bugs and butterflies in varying shades of red, yellow and orange floated through the air, making noises much louder than their bodies would suggest capable. A black lizard poked out from behind a blood red leaf and shot its tongue out several feet, pulling many of those bugs back into its mouth.

Lucy's mouth fell open as she realized the trees were also strange. They were a mix of red, black and a sooty gray color. When had the colors change?

"The portal affects the area around it a little bit, too, but don't worry. Regular humans can't get in here so it's not in danger of being found." He took her hand and pulled her towards a mostly obscured cave. "You ready?"

Lucy gulped, not at all sure, but nodded her head anyway. "Sure."

With a grin, Natsu pulled her forward and they entered the cave, the darkness completely surrounding them as they stepped into the space.


	60. Chapter 60

**To those who have been getting annoyed with Loke... I'm afraid that's about to get worse. I'm sorry in advance. Just try to remember what's at stake and know that it's not personal (for him or me.)**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

The first thing Lucy was aware of was heat. It was a dry heat, and not as hot as the jungle, so it was almost a relief to enter the space. Natsu's hand squeezed her own as he pulled her forward, and eventually the black around them receded as they entered a large, rather flat landscape. The ground was dry and cracked, and the dirt was a mixture of reds and black. Large cliffs loomed in the distance and she could smell smoke along with many other unpleasant scents.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting to show up here," Natsu said as he paused and looked around. His hand in hers felt solid, but when she looked his way, she noticed she could see through him. "This is my realm. I thought we'd be in one of the lower ones." His eyes lit up. "That means I can show you the dragons!"

"Oh, I don't know if that's necessary," Lucy said, not sure she wanted to see _any_ of the beings in this world. "I'm okay with going where it's less crowded."

"Where the dragons live is the least crowded area here." Natsu grinned. "Besides, no one can see us as we are now. We'd have to show up in our bodies to be tangible for that. Come on," he said pulling her into his arms, his wings beating as they freed themselves from his back. "I can fly us there pretty quick."

Lucy grit her teeth a little as she allowed him to lift her into his arms and take off.

After a moment, Lucy looked around, confused. Her stomach felt fine, not at all like it normally did after a take off. As she looked around, she still hated the height they were at, but physically she felt much better than usual.

"You don't have a body to get sick during flight," Natsu said as he picked up speed. Even the usual bounce was gone as he flapped his wings to propel them faster. "You should be able to just enjoy the trip. Don't worry, it'll only take a few minutes." Lucy nodded, but didn't let down her guard as they flew over the landscape.

Everything looked the same as they travelled. The ground was the same, the dead bushes and bare trees looked the same, even the occasional lava river looked the same as the last. They flew over a sketchy looking set of valleys that disappeared into the shadows of some rather wicked looking rock formations, but still she saw no other creatures.

"Where is everyone?" Lucy asked. "I expected to see at least a few demons around."

"This is one of the upper realms, the second from the top, so the population is rather low. You have to complete a lot of contracts to reach this realm. It's one of the least populated and also one of the most peaceful. It's why the dragons live here. Not to mention no one likes to live in the area around the dragons. They're rather temperamental about their space."

"Really?"

"Yep. They keep their hordes and their nests here, and they get pretty aggressive if anyone gets too close." Natsu straightened as he carefully landed on a small cliff. "We're here!"

Lucy waited until her feet were firmly underneath her before turning around to look. Her mouth dropped open as she looked across the wide open space.

It was surrounded by tall cliffs on all sides, and she could spot rather large looking nests settled at occasional intervals. The ground in the middle was much nicer looking than the rest of what she'd seen, with sparse grass growing throughout the area and sturdy looking tree with small leaves dotted the space. There was a pool in the middle, with small patches of flowers scattered around the edges. "Wow, this is so much nicer than the rest of what we've seen."

"Igneel had the dragons put it together." Natsu moved forward and sat on the edge of the cliff, a soft smile on his face. "He was convinced if they just tried hard enough, they could find the right plants somewhere that could hold up to the heat. It took years and a lot of searching, but eventually they found a few plants that could survive here, and shortly before he passed away, they found that grass. It's hard on skin, but it's soft on the dragons' scales, so they don't mind it. I actually helped plant it."

Lucy moved to sit with him, but kept a couple feet back from the edge with her legs crossed. "Sounds like you enjoyed doing it."

"It wasn't so bad," Natsu said with a shrug. "I got to spend time with my dad and he was really passionate about the project, so I enjoyed helping him finish it."

"Well you guys did an impressive job." She looked around at the different nests she could see nestled amongst the cliffs. "So do all the dragons have their own nests here? And the half dragons?"

"Most of the dragon demon hybrids shared with their parents. Our instincts for a horde aren't as massive as the dragons, so we could add ours to theirs without taking up much space."

Natsu took the time to point out who each nest belonged to, as well as what they looked like and any children they had that lived with them.

"So Sting and…"

"Rogue."

"Rogue, right. So they don't live with their fathers anymore?"

Natsu shook his head. "They made their own space together somewhere. They initially did it because they were upset with their dads for leaving, but then they decided they liked having the smaller space just between the two of them and it stuck. Their dads still try on occasion to convince them to move back, but they always say no."

"So they didn't leave for good?"

"Oh no, they're just searching through the realms for an unclaimed one for the dragons to move to. It's a long shot, since the one most suited to themwas destroyed, but they still try."

Lucy made a note to all what happened to it later. "So did you always live with your dad?"

He nodded and pointed at the nest at the very top of the cliff, the highest one of the bunch. "He was the king, so he lived at the top where he could keep an eye on everyone. I never had much reason to leave, so I stayed there with him, and after he passed, I inherited the whole thing." Natsu's smile softened. "I keep thinking about cleaning it up, but Igneel always said it was arranged the way it was for a reason."

"A lot of people think that about their treasures, and they're usually right." Lucy put her arm through his as he continued to stare off into the distance. "I'm sorry if I upset you by mentioning him."

"You didn't." Natsu leaned over to kiss her on the head. "I just miss him sometimes, you know?"

"I thought I sensed you around here."

The hairs on Lucy's neck rose and she couldn't bring herself to turn around, but Natsu had no such issues. A smile broke out across his face and he jumped to his feet. "Grandeeney!"

"It's been a while. Where have you been hiding, young one?"

"I'm contracted right now," he answered and then reached down to drag Lucy to her feet. "This is my master, Lucy."

_Master_… A purr filled Lucy's ear but she was too distracted by the large beast in front of her to think about it too much.

The dragon in front of her was so massive, Lucy wasn't even sure she was taller than its front feet. Its scales were a stark white and feathers seemed to poke out at varying spots all over its body. Lucy tensed as its head lowered to her level, but the blue eyes looking at her were kind as the dragon smiled.

"You brought your master _here_? Isn't this a rather dreadful place to visit?"

"This is home," Natsu argued. "Home isn't dreadful, I like it just fine here!"

The dragon chuckled. "I meant the realms, not _here_ natsu."

"Oh." Natsu flushed under the dragon's gaze. "Yeah, of course, sorry."

"No need to apologize for that." The dragon laid down, keeping her nose pointed their direction. "You _should_ apologize for not doing decent introductions. I know Igneel taught you better than that."

"Right, sorry!" Natsu grinned and threw his arm around Lucy, who still hadn't said anything. "Lucy, this is Garndeeney, Wendy's mother and the Dragon Queen. Grandeeney, this is my master, Lucy Heartfilia." He frowned as he looked at Lucy. "Should I introduce you as my gir-"

"It's nice to meet you!" Lucy practically yelled as she raised a hand and then faltered when she realized she couldn't shake hands with the dragon. "Uh, I've met your daughter. She's wonderful, you must be very proud."

Grandeeney smiled and nodded. "I am. I'm glad you liked her- she had many good things to say about you as well."

"She… did?"

"If you talked to Wendy, then why did you ask where I was?" Natsu asked, annoyed.

"You didn't send a message or anything to let us know where you were, and you know we appreciate the heads up. I'm aware Happy has been back and forth, you could have easily sent him to speak to us."

Natsu hung his head. "Yeah, I suppose. I'm sorry. I just got excited and forgot."

"I have been keeping him rather busy," Lucy chimed in, not at all happy about the expression on Natsu's face. "With our contract and all the things he's had to learn about my world, he's been rather busy."

"I see. Well, perhaps next time he will remember."

"I'm very sorry, your highness." Lucy bowed low, surprised when the dragon began to laugh.

"There's no need for that. Unlike what Natsu said, I am not actually the Dragon Queen. Natsu just refuses to accept that we did not name a new king after his father passed away."

"You should be queen," Natsu mumbled.

Grandeeney sighed as she lifted a foot to run one toe against his head. "You know as well as I do that we do not need a king or queen right now. With so few dragons remaining, we can easily come together and talk things out amongst ourselves instead of having a leader make decisions for us. We all agreed to the arrangement."

"You're still the deciding vote when they can't agree," Natsu pointed out.

"Only because I am the oldest." Grandeeney sighed. "Must we have this argument now? I'd much rather get to know your friend and hear about your time in the human realm."

Natsu instantly perked up and launched into a story about the first meal he had with Lucy, his excitement palpable even in his current state. The three sat on the cliff for what felt like hours talking about Natsu and Lucy's time together.

Occasionally Lucy would cut in to steer the conversation if Natsu came too close to talking about their private activities or if he got too sidetracked in his story. She also answered questions when Natsu couldn't remember details or names of things.

When they eventually decided to leave, Lucy was surprised to be pulled into the hug between Natsu and Grandeeney. After promises to send Happy back more often so they could keep in touch, Natsu and Lucy flew off, headed for the portal so they could return.

Grandeeney stayed on her perch to wait for her visitor to join her again. It didn't take long before nearly silent footsteps approached her. "What do you think?"

"I agree, she is definitely his mate." She glanced down as the angel stopped at her side. "What you didn't mention was how he'd changed since meeting her."

"I didn't know him prior to that so I had no frame of reference to measure that kind of thing."

"Only part of that is the truth, but I won't push you on it to save us some time." Her eyes found the pair as they were cresting a mountaintop and disappeared over it. "She would be a good mate for him, and he for her." Her smile disappeared. "Are you certain? About what you told me?"

The man nodded. "Yes. I don't want to be, but it's the only explanation that makes sense. He is the two, since he is both dragon and demon."

"But doesn't the girl-"

"She is still just a human." Leo rubbed his hands over his face. "Grandeeney, please, I need you on my side for this. I have no choice but to get his contract terminated, and since I can't convince any of the demons to side with me, I need your support. The demon kings don't understand this kind of thing, but if you talk to them, I'm sure you can help us sway them to end the contract."

The dragon remembered the way Natsu had smiled while they talked, the way he'd instinctively kept close to Lucy in order to protect her from whatever may come. She'd felt how happy he was, and to take that away… to part of what took that away…

She looked up towards Igneel's nest where it sat on its lofty perch, and silently begged his forgiveness.

"I will speak to them with you," Grandeeney agreed. "Natsu is like a son to me in many ways, and while I hate to break his heart, his unhappiness is a small price to pay for the safety of the realms."

"Thank you," Leo said, his gratitude obvious as his shoulders fell. "I just need to be sure that they'll agree. They've never fought to end a contract when we've given good reason, but I don't know if they'd go along with this. I'll speak to my king at as soon as I'm ba-"

"I have one condition."

Leo looked up, a strange twisting in his gut telling him he wouldn't like what she was going to say next. "What is it?"

Grandeeney continued to stare up at Igneel's nest, wondering what he would do in her place. "How good is your nose, Leo the Lion?"

Leo frowned. "Not as good as a dragon, but better than most. Why?"

"Have you sensed it, that duality in Natsu? His smell has shifted as well. Even as a projection of himself I could tell."

Leo considered her words before slowly nodding. "I think so. The campfire smell seems to strengthen and wane and that dark aroma with it."

"That's because the dragon in him is fighting him." Grandeeney continued to stare off as she spoke. "If not for his dragon's anxiousness, I might not have sensed him here." She slowly shook her head. "His dragon will not allow him to remain unaware for long. It is too strong for that, and I get the feeling that he has shown himself more than once to Lucy. Happy said Lucy knows what is going on, and while I cannot say how she feels about it, I think that she is using that knowledge to help Natsu and keep his dragon at bay."

She finally looked down, her eyes pleading as she made her favor known. "Allow him to figure out what Lucy is to him before you split them up. If he returns here without that knowledge, without her, I am afraid that his dragon may get the better of him. Especially…"

"Since he won't be allowed to see her again?"

Grandeeney nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want to watch him destroyed by himself like that. He will never get passed the broken heart that will follow being separated from his mate, but a rift like that within himself could allow the demon free, and if that happens, we will have no choice but to put him down.

"Igneel was hard pressed to contain him the one time it happened in the past. I can not imagine we will be so lucky a second time, especially now that he is older and stronger. As long as he is aware, and he and his dragon are in sync together, I believe he will be able to keep his demon contained, even as upset as he will no doubt be.

"And we will be here to help," she said looking once more around her. "Many of us know what that is like, and we will help him to come to terms with her absence, I am certain of that."

Leo crossed his arms, unsure that he could allow that to pass. "I don't know if I can do that. If he were to figure it out and mate with Lucy-"

"Lucy is special, but she has no idea how to complete a dragon mating ritual." Grandeeney got up and sat on her hind legs, her tail curling around her. "Even if Natsu's dragon forces him to start it, she will not know how to complete it, nor do I think she would even be able to. She is only a human- I do not think she is quite strong enough for that."

"But Happy told me-"

"I know that Natsu has bitten her. Happy told me as well." Grandeeney looked down at Leo. "Her teeth are not hard enough to pierce scales, and the ritual requires both participants to pierce the other's flesh."

"Humans can bite hard enough to make skin bleed, and Natsu has skin in at least one of his forms."

Grandeeney shook her head. "In the state he would be in for that, he would not be able to control his dragon enough to hide any of his scales. And if he realizes it when they are not intimate, there will be even less chance he will try to perform the mating ritual."

"So… if I can figure out a way to make him realize Lucy is his mate when they aren't having sex, he won't mate with her?"

"The instinct will be there, of course, but he will have more control of himself and more than likely won't try." She unwrapped her tail and got to her feet. "Lucy is only a human, and only one dragon has ever mated with a human before in our collective history. It did not go well for the human, and Natsu knows that. He will not risk hurting her in the same manner, so you do not need to worry. In either scenario, they will not be able to complete the mating ritual. As long as you wait to separate them until he has figured it out, I will speak to the kings with you, I promise."

Leo sighed. "Fine. They'll be returning to Magnolia in less than a week. I'm sure I can come up with something before then."

"That is all I ask, Leo the Lion. I look forward to seeing you again soon." With that she flapped her wings and took off, a blast of air nearly knocking Leo off his feet.

When he could finally see again, he watched her fly off in the direction the other dragons had gone earlier, no doubt to hunt.

With a groan, Leo held out a hand to make a portal back to the human realm. He had six days to come up with a way to help Natsu. He couldn't wait any longer than that.

He just hoped the pair didn't do anything crazy in the meantime.


	61. Chapter 61

**It's WAY too late for this mama to be up, but I just couldn't convince myself to go to bed without finishing my edits for this one. Hopefully it's worth it for you guys.**

**I was also kind of waiting for a message that has not come yet. This chapter has the requested scene from my winner! I was not given permission to share their name, but I will share the prompt:**

**Natsu touching himself to the thought of Lucy. Bonus points if he steals her panties.**

**This of course means there's a NSFW version of this that will contain the actual scene, but I wanted to at least share the request with the rest of you.**

**I'm also trying to come up with one more contest style thing for the final arc. There should be details in my next chapter, so look for it then if you're interested!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"So how many contracts have you complete?"

"Not sure." Natsu turned a little in his seat. "Why do you ask?"

"You said that level of the realms you live in is hard to get to. How many contracts did you have to complete to get into it?"

"Oh, I didn't. I went there to live with my dad when I was born. All the hybrids did."

Lucy rolled onto her side, smiling a little as Natsu's eyes darted down to her hips. "So you guys just get to stay there because you're part dragon?"

"As long as we do our job and respond to summons, complete our contrats, all that nonsense, we get to stay. The demon kings agreed with my father that they would be better off being raised with the dragons there." Natsu continued to stare as he slowly lowered his hands over the side of his lounge chair and crawled her way. "Even if they hadn't, the dragons wouldn't just let the demons keep us away."

Lucy sighed as Natsu leaned towards her and kissed the skin along her waist, up her hip and down her thigh. As he moved back up her body, his hand slowly followed. He stopped at her naval and then pressed his face against her chest, rubbing in circles as he pulled her closer.

"Natsu…"

"Mmm." Natsu rolled her onto her back again and then kissed his way up her neck. When he finally reached her mouth, he pulled her closer and kissed her.

Lucy's arms wrapped around him as she kissed him back. His lips were unhurried as they met hers, his tongue slowly twirling with her own as he tasted her. She gasped when he tugged on her bottom lip with his teeth, causing him to growl in response.

"What do you do to me?…"

Lucy wasn't able to ask him what he meant as he resumed the kiss, pulling her up against him. Her back arched and when he began to trail kisses down to her neck, Lucy's head fell back on its own, overwhelmed as she was by his touch. Natsu nibbled lightly on the skin at her neck before pulling away, the string of her bikini top held firmly between his teeth.

"Natsu, you should probably stop that soon."

"Why? Is that what you want, _master?_" His purr sent a wave of heat through her body but Lucy did her best to ignore it.

"They'll be bringing us food soon," she reminded him, hoping the mention of food would help rein him in.

It seemed to have the opposite effect, as his gaze became even more intense. "Then perhaps I should wait until it's here so I can eat it off you."

"Natsu…" Lucy sighed, feeling a little guilty. "I think I need a break from that," she said.

Natsu leaned back, the heat immediately leaving his eyes as surprise took over. "Oh. Ooooohhh." He rubbed his face with both his hands. "Of course, why didn't I think of that? You're a human with human stamina. And here I've been- I'm sorry, Lucy. I didn't mean to be so pushy about it. That's not usually my style."

Lucy smiled and sat up to retie her top. "It's okay, really. I would have said no if I had a problem with it sooner, but I think I'd like a break. Between the massages and other pampering, it's not like I haven't had enough time to rest it's just… it gets kind of exhausting after a while."

"It's okay, really, I'm alright." A loud knock on the front door sent Natsu to his feet. "I'll go get the food and bring it out here. Don't move a muscle."

Lucy smiled as she watched him go, and then leaned back in her chair.

He really was spoiling her.

She should find some way to pay him back.

* * *

Natsu paced back and forth as he waited for Lucy to return. When he'd insisted that she try out all the resort's amenities, he hadn't thought about how much time she would spend away from him. He'd considered joining her, but had felt weird about other humans having their hands on him.

Not that he'd expected to be this agitated over her not being around. That was a new, and frankly frustrating, development.

When he'd first arrived in the human realm, he'd gone hours between seeing Lucy where he'd been more than content to just hang out at her home and wait for her to get back, but lately he'd caught himself eagerly awaiting her return any time they were apart. He could blame the threat of her being kidnapped constantly looming over them, but he knew it was more than that.

It was _Lucy_.

He just wanted to be around her, all the time. She was like a drug, and he was an eager and willing junky. He had no thoughts about quitting, no desire to give her up, and the thought surprised him a bit. He'd never been so clingy with anyone, even his own father, and he had loved Igneel with a zeel that persisted even after his death.

Annoyed with himself, Natsu went into their room and threw himself on the bed, burying his face in the Lucy's pillow. The scent wasn't as strong as it was in her room, but it was enough to help calm him a little. Natsu opened his eyes and looked around their room, noting the articles of clothing that had been flung all over. It had been him that did the flinging, of course, and now that he was looking at it, he was surprised that Lucy hadn't cleaned any of it up yet. She was usually much neater than that.

With a grunt, Natsu got to his feet and began to clean up the room. It was his fault it was a mess in the first place. Lucy was probably too tired to clean up after him, and it wasn't like he had bothered to clean up anything since they'd arrived. As he put her dirty clothes in a pile, he made sure to fix the rips he found in them.

Natsu frowned as he realized just how greedy he'd been since they'd arrived, and how aggressive. Had he really torn _all_ of her clothes when he'd pulled them off her? And she hadn't said anything, just allowed him to play with her body, and played with his in return.

He really needed to find some way to apologize for that.

When he finished fixing her red lace underwear, he paused when her scent hit him. He lifted the garment to his face and took a deep breath, his body hardening as her smell filled his nose.

Natsu looked down his body at the erection clearly trying to push through his pants. Perhaps if he took care of his own needs he wouldn't be so grabby with Lucy. He'd never done it before, but he was sure he could figure it out.

Natsu checked the clock to make sure Lucy wouldn't be back any time soon before he allowed his clothes to melt away and then laid on the bed.

He had plenty of time.

* * *

Lucy laughed as Natsu continued his Happy impression, but for the life of her, she had no idea what story he was telling anymore.

All she'd been able to think about since the previous day were his whispered words against her skin.

_What do you do to me?…_

Over the course of their trip, Lucy had come to the conclusion that Natsu still didn't know that she was his mate, but he was fully aware of his inner dragon. He no longer seemed to get panicked or tense when the gold leaked into his irises. From what she could see, he didn't seem to respond at all, he just continued on with whatever he was doing or talking about.

She was curious if that meant he was close to figuring everything out, or if he'd come up with some other explanation for the dragon's presence. She'd brought up mates again the previous night, hiding it amongst other dragon questions, but he hadn't reacted at all, leaving her to believe he was still clueless about her.

That left her thoughts to be continuously brought back to his question. She wondered if she brought it up and had him voice those thoughts out loud, whatever they were, if that would help him.

She supposed she could always go with Plan B, which was to finally have sex with him, but after learning that she was his mate, she wasn't sure if allowing their relationship to go that far was a good idea. The little she had been able to research about the mating habits of the creatures in her world led her to believe that neither of them was going to get passed their contract unscathed. For the creatures that mated for life, it was very difficult for the animals to get over the loss of their mate, and she knew humans fared no better when they were in truly loving and committed relationships.

Lucy couldn't help but think that going all the way with Natsu would inevitably leave him in a lot of pain once they could no longer spend every day together. She hadn't asked, so she wasn't sure what the policy was on having multiple contracts with the same human. However. there was the chance she could just renew their contract every year, but she wasn't sure that was the right choice either. If he was around for too long without aging, there was no doubt questions would arise with her friends that she wouldn't be able to answer. Not to mention the fact that she herself would get old while he would remain as young and handsome as he was now. She believed that eventually he'd grow old, but she also believed there was no chance of that happening in her lifetime.

And then there were her concerns over Natsu not figuring everything out before he went home if she didn't sleep with him. Sex seemed like the kind of thing that would cause his dragon to force him into the realization, so perhaps it was the best way to make sure he put two and two together before he went home. She just wasn't sure how she should decide when to do it, or even if they should.

"Luce, you okay?"

Lucy's eyes snapped his way. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

"You were staring awfully hard at your glass. Do you want some more to drink?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Thank you though."

"What were you thinking about so hard then?" Natsu had been leaning against the headboard while Lucy was cross legged at the other end of the bed. While she sought the right words to answer him, he moved forward to lay on his belly with his head resting on one of her knees.

"I was just thinking about what you said yesterday," Lucy finally said. She'd try the new Plan A and see how that went before she thought about Plan B too much more.

"Which thing?"

"Before lunch, you asked what I do to you."

Natsu's cheeks instantly went red as he averted his eyes. "What about it?"

"Can you tell me what you meant? What do I do to you that you question?"

Natsu cleared his throat as he rolled a little to get comfortable, keeping his eyes on her other knee. "I'm not sure how to describe it."

Lucy ran her fingers through his hair, causing his eyes to flutter shut as his body relaxed. "Take your time. Use whatever words you need to."

Natsu hummed in the back of his throat and then was quiet for a while. Lucy began to worry he'd fallen asleep before he finally spoke again.

"When I'm away from you, all I can seem to think about is when you'll be back again. Even when I know where you are, or I know you're busy, all I want to do is go find you and spend time with you. Even if it's just to sit in the same room as you, I'd prefer that to staying at home or anywhere else without you.

"When I'm with you, I just feel… I feel whole. It doesn't matter if we're watching TV or eating or doing our own thing quietly in the same room, hell, even sleeping, I just like being around you.

"I've never felt that with anyone else.

"I loved Igneel. I loved learning from him and making him proud, but I never felt that need to be around him all the time.

"With Happy, we spend time together and apart no problem, and I've never felt dependant on him being around to be happy.

"You are completely different. I want to be around you _all the time_. I feel happy when you're happy, I feel sad when you're sad, and it's more than just what I should feel from the summoning tag. My entire being craves your presence, and my biggest desire is to give you whatever you want and be around you as much as possible.

"I don't know what that is," Natsu said, obviously frustrated. "I don't know why that would be, especially with you. No offense," he hurried to add, "but as the human I'm contracted to, it's an odd feeling to have with you."

Lucy smiled reassuringly at him. "Well, we are friends you know. Perhaps that's what it is. I'm the new friend and you just want to get to know me."

"It's more than that." Natsu shot up, his frustration leaking into his movements as he gripped his hair with his hands and then ran them over his face. "My thoughts revolve around how beautiful I think you are. How wonderful you are as a person. How lucky I feel to have met you. How much I would give up just to spend time with you. Lately I've been thinking about the end of my contract and wondering if I can somehow convince you to make another one with me immediately after this one ends so I don't have to go even one day without being around you."

Natsu reached forward and pulled her body flush with his and then buried his face in her hair. "My body, my emotions, my thoughts, my- my entire _being_ doesn't feel complete without you around. I shouldn't be so dependent on you, for any reason. For my magic, for my happiness, for my sanity, and yet that's what it feels like. If you were to drop dead tomorrow, I feel like my life would end and I _don't understand why_."

His voice grew rough and Lucy was certain he was on the verge of tears.

His confusion and obvious unhappiness tugged hard on Lucy's heart.

All her doubts about sleeping with Natsu leaked away, one by one, until all she felt was a certainty that she couldn't go even one more day without having him. If she was right, and with all the time she'd spent thinking about it, she wasn't sure she'd ever been more sure about anything, he needed it. Not in the way men did when they claimed they 'needed' sex, but in the way that his life seemed to be slowly unraveling and he needed answers so everything could be set right again.

Lucy gently pulled away and got up on her knees enough to kiss him. Natsu kissed her back, but with much less confidence and fervor than usual. His lips trembled slightly and she could taste the salt of his tears when she kissed his cheek. "I want to try something," she whispered.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I think you're thinking too hard about everything." Lucy stood up and moved to light the candles on the bedside table. "How about you put those thoughts out of your mind for a little while? Just for tonight, allow yourself not to fret about everything."

"Lucy, I don't know if-"

"I'll give you something else to focus on," she said as she moved towards the dresser and lit the candles there as well.

"What am I supposed to focus on instead?" Lucy didn't answer as she put the last candle down. "You know I could have done that."

"I know," Lucy said with a smile. She opened one of the drawers and pulled something out. Natsu didn't look any less upset, but his eyes couldn't seem to move away from her hips as Lucy walked his way. "I want you to just lay back and relax, okay?"

"Luce-"

"Please."

Natsu eyed her a little, mostly her arms, which were folded behind her back. "What are you hiding?"

"Lay down and I'll show you." Natsu sighed but moved to lay down with his head on his pillow.

Lucy smiled and then pulled the blindfold out from behind her back. It had been one of the few presents she'd accepted from Cana before she'd left. It had been one of the less intimidating toys her friend had offered her, and she'd always been curious about being tied up or blindfolded. After what had happened with those men, that curiosity had vanished, but with Natsu… she thought she might be willing to try.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" he asked.

"I'm going to blindfold you," she said as she leaned forward and began to tie it around his head. "Then I'm going to change into some different clothes. Once I'm ready, I'm going to come over here and distract you with the one way women have always been able to distract men- with sex."

"Lucy, you know we could do that without the blindfold, right?"

"This will be more fun." Lucy finished knotting the fabric and then checked to make sure he couldn't see around it. "Besides, this will help silence those pesky thoughts in your head."

"If you say so. I don't see how it wo_ooooould_." Natsu's breath left him in a rush as Lucy's hand ran over the front of his pants. It was obvious he was already more than willing to play. "_Luce_…"

"Just be patient," she whispered. "I'll only be gone for a minute. Just sit tight, and _don't_ remove that blindfold, got it?"

Natsu grit his teeth. "Fine, but hurry. Please. I don't like this."

"And I haven't even tied you up yet," Lucy teased as she moved towards the dresser again.

"... What? Is that part of the plan?" Natsu's nostrils flared as he tried to find her through her scent. "Lucy? What are you getting?"

"Calm down, I won't be tying you down." She grinned. "Yet."

The way Natsu's body moved in response to her words made her think that she would not find much resistance if she did decide to tie him up.

She shook her head as she dug into the very bottom of her clothes pile and pulled out an outfit she'd been saving for this very thing. With a deep breath, she began to switch over to the new outfit.

It was time, she decided. If it would help Natsu, she couldn't keep trying to talk herself out of it.

She was putting Plan B into action.


	62. Chapter 62

**Hopefully this doesn't disappoint too many of you, but I do not actually have a new chapter for you. Part 62 starts with sex, continues with sex, and just about finishes with sex. It seemed like a better idea to post it in the NSFW version and share a different entry with the rest of you since that part took me so long to write.**

**I have been saving some of the parts that I cut out and had planned to share them with you at the end, but this seems like a good place to use it as filler. For those who only read this version, 63 will be out soon enough and it will continue the story. For now, I hope these will do.**

**These were all cut for different reasons, and I will share the reason before each one, as well as what scene it should have come after. I hope you enjoy.**

**IMPORTANT: At the end, I will be adding the final scene in Part 62. It has nothing to do with Lucy and Natsu being together, but adds a little foreshadowing for the next arc, so be sure to check it out, even if you are not interested in the cut scenes!**

**And as always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

**This was the start of a scene with Lucy and Loke that just didn't go where I wanted it to. It was the night that Lucy saw the men from her past that gave her nightmares and had Natsu breaking into her phone to call Loke and ask what the hell was up.**

Lucy took in the way his shoulders were hunched, his face uneasy and cheeks a little pink. His hand in hers was a little clammy and his other hand was fidgeting more than usual. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just… I had something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?" His nervousness was starting to get to her, so she grabbed her drink to give herself something to do to keep herself from fidgeting.

He took a deep breath as he reached up to take off his glasses. Lucy's eyes widened as he did. Loke rarely took off his glasses. If he was removing them, then whatever he wanted to ask must be serious. He set them aside then ran his hand down the front of his suit to smooth it out before looking up at her. "Lucy, will you go out with me on Friday?"

Lucy blinked at him a few times, confusion welling inside of her. He asked her out all the time when she came to eat at his restaurant, and every time she'd remind him that they hung out with the whole group on that day. He'd always smile and say it didn't hurt to try and remind her that the offer was always there. It was a routine, it was comfortable, it was normal. However, this time…

It felt different.

She leaned back a little, letting him maintain his grip on her hand. After she swallowed and wet her lips a little, she finally spoke. "Why does this feel different than the other times that you've asked me?"

His focus on her didn't waver. "Because it is. I like you, Lucy. I want to take you out and show you a good time. I'm not saying we need to lock ourselves into a relationship or anything, and if you say no, I will be okay with that. No matter what, I want to stay your friend and I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me. If you don't want to go out with me, that's perfectly okay." He smiled at her as he squeezed her hand. "Your happiness is what's important, and I think that I could make you happy, if you'd let me."

* * *

**This was Thanksgiving, when they were talking about camp. After I got as far as I did, it just felt funny to me, so I rewrote it. (And I'm still not sure what kind of punishment I would have chosen for Lucy.)**

Lucy cleared her throat as she and Cana looked at each other. "Should we?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know. We've waited this long, is it the right time?"

They glanced around the table. Lucy smiled. "I think this is a good group."

Levy gave her a confused look while Juvia's eyes grew wide. "Oh please don't," she said.

"What?" Levy asked. "What are you two hiding?"

"Three actually," Cana corrected, nodding towards Juvia, whose face had gone red again.

"What? What did you guys do?" Levy asked.

Cana grinned. "Well, Juvia was pretty upset, and Lucy decided she wanted to help her."

"The girl had no clean underwear for days!" Lucy said. "I had to help her."

Levy glared at them. "What did you guys do?..."

Lucy gave her a small smile. "Well, to make it fair, we stole everyone's underwear from our cabin and hid them in one of the boys' cabins."

"THAT WAS YOU GUYS?!" Levy shrieked.

"Don't forget to tell her about how we didn't actually lose ours," Cana said. "We just hid ours in the woods so we wouldn't get caught with them, but we could still have clean pairs."

Levy looked ready to blow, but Lucy wasn't done yet. "Plus, we took a few pairs of your clean underwear to give to Juvia. You were one of the only girls who didn't bring thongs."

The small woman nodded as she studied the table in front of her, ignoring the laughter coming from the men. She hummed a bit as she tapped her fingers on the tabletop. "You do remember what I did to Nash once they found our things in their cabin, right? He was the biggest troublemaker in that cabin, so everyone was certain it was him. Do you remember what happened to him once I found out?" Levy's voice was soft as she looked at her friends.

Juvia put her hands up in front of herself. "I didn't ask them to do it and I wasn't part of anything, I only accepted the garments. They never even told me they were yours!"

Levy's eyes landed on Cana, who only smirked as she grabbed her drink. "It was all Lucy, chicka. She came up with the idea, made the plan, and did most of the work. I was only the lookout."

When the small woman's eyes finally found the blonde, Lucy tensed at the daggered look being thrown her way. "Hey, Levy, it was a long time ago."

"What I did to Nash gave me a reputation at that camp that followed me for our last three years there."

"Yeah. You were known as the small and cute bookworm that was also a total badass that shouldn't be messed with."

"Nash never came back to camp after that."

Lucy shrugged. "No great loss there."

Levy scooted her chair back. "Lucy, you know what I have to do."

The blonde gulped. "Yeah, but can we get even later? It's Friendsgiving, we're supposed to be thankful and happy and nice today! Can't it wait?"

Levy shook her head. "You're leaving tomorrow, and this can't wait until you get back. We can do it the easy way or the hard way, you pick."

Loke sighed. "Levy-"

"Bugger off, Loke," Levy said, lifting a warning finger at him. "We have to even it out, and there's only one way."

"How do you do that?" Natsu asked.

Levy ignored him, instead turning her attention back to her friend. "Undergarments are sacred. And you guys _lied_ to me. You know there's only one way, Lu. Make your choice."

Lucy pushed back her chair a bit. "Can I choose after everyone goes home?"

"No," Levy said. "One last chance."

* * *

**Okay, so this is a pair of scenes soon after they rescued Lucy and Mao and Ova joined them in the human world. Natsu felt bad about distracting Lucy after he lied to her by agreeing to sleep with her. He started making a big thing about it, and then after I got as far as I did, it felt disingenuous, so I cut it and reworked the scene with Virgo.**

"I'm confused."

"About which part?" Natsu asked.

Virgo gestured at herself. "Why you're talking to me about this again."

The hybrid sighed. "Well I don't have many options, and since Leo is still not around…?"

"He's not," Virgo answered the hinted at question.

"Then you're about all I've got. I suppose I could ask Ova and Mao, but I'm trying to give them some space after what happened." Natsu frowned. "Even if I don't remember it, I still feel bad about what I did."

Virgo hmm'd and tossed her rag to the side. "Well if you want my opinion, I think you timed your new commitment poorly. If you really do plan on convincing Leo to tell her the truth, she will more than likely figure out what things happened and find out that you did it right after lying to her. I don't know Lucy well, so I don't know how important honesty is to her, but I do know that most female humans do not like being lied to."

Natsu laid his head on the bar. "I know, but from what she remembered, it was the natural progression, after the talk we had in the kitchen." He glared at Virgo with one eye. "I lied for Leo's sake, so shouldn't you be grateful?"

"One has nothing to do with the other," Virgo said. "You asked for my opinion so I gave it to you. Don't blame Leo if this backfires on you. You chose the timing."

Natsu grunted as he closed his eyes again. "I just don't know what to do. I feel like I messed everything up."

Virgo was quiet for a while as she studied him. "You know this isn't all your fault. It's Zalanoon's. And whoever made that prophecy." Virgo grabbed her rag again. "In your defense, she shouldn't have even been able to summon you, let alone make a contract."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Natsu muttered into the wood.

The angel lifted his head and removed his arms from the bar before wiping it down again. "Go on, go spend time with your human. You did your research, so you have plenty to work with if you want to get started on your new arrangement."

Natsu frowned as he stood. "For some reason it feels… cheap when you say it that way."

"Am I wrong?" she asked. "In order to have a relationship with someone, shouldn't there be some chance of it lasting? You said so yourself that once you go back, you two will be at best friends, right? So you should enjoy what you have while you have it."

"I suppose." Natsu pushed in his chair before he bid her farewell and left, his frown still in place the whole time.

He didn't like thinking of what he had with Lucy as an arrangement. It was a relationship, wasn't it? Even if what they had didn't last passed the contract, they had agreed to stay friends. That meant they had a relationship, didn't it?

He wasn't sure why he was so upset about what Virgo had said, but he was. Perhaps he need to talk to someone else. But who?

* * *

"That was dumb."

Natsu sighed. "I was worried you'd say that."

Cana sat with her hands in her lap, her milk white eyes staring straight ahead. "If you wanted someone to sugarcoat it, you should have asked someone else."

"I figured you'd be the best one to ask since you're Lucy's best friend."

Natsu sighed as he sat down next to Cana at her kitchen table. The spell he'd used wasn't one he was comfortable using and he hadn't used it often. This meant that he was tiring much more quickly as he maintained it, so he needed to finish his conversation with her sooner rather than later.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked.

"That's obvious, tell her the truth."

"I already told you why I can't do that."

"Well, either tell her the truth now or get Loke to. If she finds out after you've started the physical stuff in your relationship, she's going to be upset." Cana shrugged. "Or go back in time and don't do it. You got anything like that?"

_Yes_, Natsu thought, but it wasn't something he'd ever tried to use before and he wasn't keen on trying now. "Thanks for your help." He waved his hand in front of her face and she closed her eyes as she slumped over onto the table. He locked the door as he left and then headed home, wondering what he should do.

* * *

**This is the final scene of the real Part 62, so please read!**

In a dark room, a man stands looking out the window, patiently waiting. He speaks as soon as another man enters and closes the door behind him.

"So? What did you find out?"

"They have slept together, very recently. I believe that their prior contact did not result in full copulation, but I did witness them completing the act while I was there."

"What about Natsu? Has he figured it out?"

"I caught him speaking to her while she slept. It seems he may suspect, but he is not fully aware yet that she is his mate."

"Hmm. Let's hope that changes soon. I believe he will be less of a problem if he's mourning the loss of contact with his mate." The man at the window moved to sit in the chair at his desk. "We'll have to find some way to help that along. I believe if he figures out they are mates, it will push Leo to speak with his king and have their contract broken. When that happens, he'll be returned to his home and we will have an easier time with our plan."

"Won't having him home make him more of a threat to our plan?"

"On the contrary," the sitting man chuckled. "I believe he will be too upset to interfere. The loss of a mate is detrimental to a dragon. Added to that, I have a plan to get him far, far out of the way. Sending him home is the first step.

"Once he has left, the angels will no doubt lighten their guard, and once things have settled a bit, we can take her."

"Sir, why would the angels lighten their guard? Surely not having the hybrid around will force them to bring in more angels, would it not?"

"I forget how new you are around here." The man sighs. "Between realms, it is rather difficult to pinpoint a location to travel to, for most. Among the angels, demons and dragons, only the Zodiac and the kings have the power to do so. Everyone else must follow the trail of magic. They're no doubt assuming that Zalanoon is the only one looking for Lucy, so once Natsu is gone, they need only send the other angels away and their magical footprint would be too small to discern from the others in the human realm, making them effectively invisible since it would take too long to check every point of magic to find them."

"I see. And you're sure that the hybrid will not be a problem?"

"Don't worry." Dark eyes flashed as the man at the desk leaned forward with a smile. "Where I'm sending him, he'll be too far away to ever realize we've brought her here."


	63. Chapter 63

**GUYS! I completely forgot about the little contest/ idea search thing I wanted to do that I was supposed to mention in the last part! I have a rough outline put together for the big finishing arc (prior to the little half arc at the end) and I wanted to get some input before the current arc is over! I'm looking for more scenes to add, and I'd love to get some ideas from you!**

**If you've got something you'd like to see, or a question you'd liked answer, or a scene you think would be fun to add, let me know! Put it in a review, shoot me a PM, however you wanna get it to me. You'll have until the final installment of this arc, which is coming up very soon, so don't wait! Once I get to the last chapter before the final arc, I'll put all the ideas into my author note so everyone can check them out and vote! Whichever one gets the most votes (perhaps the top two) will be added in.**

**I'll be sharing all the ones that I like and/ or will fit into what I have planned so everyone who wants to can vote! I'm hoping for more ideas than just sexy ones, because I'd love to be able to add them to the regular story, so keep that in mind. And of course, you'll get credit for your idea if you'd like.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Is it done?"

"Yes sir. I visited this morning before they woke up and cast the spell. Are you sure it will be enough?"

"I'm sure."

"Why don't we just _tell_ him? Wouldn't that be better?"

"We just want him distracted and out of the way. Don't worry, my plan will work."

* * *

"You're doing it again," Lucy said.

"Doing what?"

"Staring."

Natsu didn't budge as he said, "Hmm."

Lucy continued to read her book, but after the third time through the same paragraph, she sighed and set it aside. "What's wrong, Natsu?"

He'd been like that all day. No matter what she was doing, he'd been right there, with that same scrutinizing expression on his face. As the day wore on, she had noticed he looked more and more annoyed as he continued to not find the answers he sought.

Natsu propped his chin in his on his fist, his eyes narrowed as he studied her. "I don't know."

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I don't know."

"Natsu, that's not an answer." Lucy didn't mind having his attention, but the staring was starting to get under her skin. "There has to be a reason. Is there something on my face? Or in my hair?"

"No, nothing like that." Natsu leaned closer across the table. "I just… I have this _need_ to figure something out."

"Something out… about me?"

"I think so."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"I just…" Natsu groaned and covered his face with both hands. "I woke up with this certainty that there is something about you I know that I don't know that I know and I _need_ to figure out what it is. Does that make sense?"

Lucy leaned back a bit and slowly nodded. "I think I do." This had to be it. Whatever his dragon was doing, it was obviously being more active about getting him to realize that she was his mate. Lucy couldn't say the words of course, but she wondered if there was anything else she could do to help him figure out what was going on.

"It's driving me _crazy_," he groaned again. "It's like this itch that won't go away, and I can't think about _anything else_ because my brain is so thoroughly stuck on you."

"Maybe I can help?"

Natsu fisted his hands in his hair. "No. I don't like this. I don't like not being able to control my own mind. I'm not doing this." He shot up out of his chair, hard enough to push the table a couple inches. "Let's just watch a movie. Maybe I can distract myself for a little while."

"But Natsu-"

"_No_. Whatever it is, I won't figure it out obsessing over it. If I was, I would have by now. It's been several hours, and I've had enough of it. I want to do something else." He moved to the living room and started going through the movies there. "If you don't want to join me, that's fine, but I'm going to try and zone out for a bit."

Lucy could see how twitchy he was as he looked through the small selection, and decided it would be better to not try and force him into anything. He was obviously frazzled and talking about it was making it worse, so instead, she followed him into the living room and helped him get the TV set up. He growled at one point and slid his hand across the shelf, tossing most of the cases. Lucy didn't say anything, just let him have his moment.

He reached into the pile, grabbed one at random, and handed it to her before cleaning up the others. Lucy got the movie started, something in Spanish that she didn't recognize, and then moved to sit on the couch. Natsu joined her soon after and sat on the opposite end. He leaned against the arm and folded one of his legs up next to him. At first glance he seemed relaxed, but when Lucy looked closer, she could see how tense his muscles were, and the little twitches every so often as he tried to hold his pose.

Lucy leaned back in her own spot and forced herself to watch the movie. If she continued to watch him, he'd probably notice and it would just make it harder for him to relax.

Half an hour later, as Lucy finally started to figure out what was going on in the movie, Natsu groaned out loud and his head flopped back against the couch. "I. just. can't. make it. stop."

Lucy sighed as she scooted closer. "It's because you're trying too hard."

"I'm not trying too hard to do anything! I'm just trying to relax! Why is that so hard to do!"

Natsu reached over and yanked her into his lap, causing the air to whoosh out of Lucy's lungs, so he could bury his face in her hair. Once she'd regained her breath, she adjusted so that her back was flush against his front and his arms were wrapped just below her breasts. She raised her hands and slid them into his hair. "You can't just force yourself to relax. It'll only rile you up more."

Natsu grumbled in her ear, but she didn't catch any of the words. His hands came up and softly squeezed her breasts. "Perhaps I should try something else to clear my mind."

Lucy felt her skin tingle and her pulse leap at the prospect, but she ignored it. "If focusing on me is the problem, I think that's a little backwards. Just let me try and help you. Just close your eyes and try not to think about anything. Focus on my hands in your hair, or the voices on the TV. Maybe even the waves outside, I know you can hear them from here. Just relax and stop trying to think so hard about everything."

Lucy continued her soft, soothing instructions as her fingers rubbed his scalp, first back and forth in straight lines, and then in large circles. Natsu's head nestled more comfortably against the back of the couch and he sighed.

Some time later, Lucy realized his breathing had lengthened, and he was softly snoring. She carefully pulled her hands away and looked up at him. She hadn't intended to make him fall asleep, but she didn't mind that it had happened. He'd been growing more and more agitated throughout the day, so she supposed it was probably better for him to be asleep.

She glanced at the clock and saw that she still had a couple hours before they needed to worry about food, so she got comfortable and went back to the movie. It soon became clear she had missed too much, but she tried to catch up again before it was over. In the end, she was only somewhat sure she knew was going on. Since Natsu was still asleep, she started it over and did her best to interpret what she could.

Not even an hour later, Lucy had fallen asleep as well, warm and comfortable in Natsu's arms.

* * *

"_Dad, how do you know when you've found your mate?"_

_Igneel glanced over at Natsu from where he'd been curled up napping. "Why do you ask?"_

"_Just curious."_

_Igneel raised an eyebrow at his son as he continued to watch him. "Is that so? It has nothing to with Grandeeney?"_

"_Well duh, that's why I'm curious." Natsu looked over his shoulder at his father. "They've known each other for years. Why did it take so long for them to figure it out?"_

_Igneel grunted a little as he moved to lay next to his son. "I'm not sure if there's a good answer for that question. My guess is that they weren't ready yet."_

"_What do you mean?" Natsu asked, his young face as perplexed as Igneel had ever seen it. _

"_The dragon in all of us knows who our mate is, there's no doubt about that. But I think that he won't tell you unless you're ready for it. Perhaps Grandeeney and Zinger just weren't the dragons they needed to be for their inner dragon to tell them until recently."_

"_Their inner dragon?" Natsu frowned, even more confused. "You're _all _dragons. What are you talking about, dad?"_

_Igneel lifted a foot and gently poked Natsu in the chest with a claw. "There's a dragon in you, son, who lies dormant until you finally meet your mate. His whole purpose is to let you know who they are, and when the time is right, to help you access that magic we hold in reserve to protect them._

"_When you meet your mate, your dragon will let you know, make no mistake. It may take a few years, like with Grandeeney and Zinger, until you're in the right place or the right time. It may take a few days or months, while you get to know them."_

_Igneel's smile softened. "It make only take a moment, when you see them wandering through the forest looking for a fierce dragon to carry them off to their lofty tower and keep them there forever."_

_Natsu looked up at his dad and watched as he stared wistfully off into space. His father had only mentioned his mate a couple times in his whole life. Natsu could tell that it hurt a lot for his father to talk about her, but his curiosity drove him to ask._

"_Hey dad?"_

"_Yes, son?"_

"_Can I ask you a question?"_

"_I don't know, can you?"_

_Natsu rolled his eyes and hit his father's leg. "That's a terrible joke."_

"_And yet, you set it up for me all the time." Igneel grinned and turned his head so he could look down at his son. "What do you want to ask me?"_

"_Can you tell me about… your mate? The one you lost?"_

_Igneel's grin faded and he turned to stare out over the valley that they called home. There was a sadness in his eyes, even as his face remained passive. "What would you like to know?"_

"_What's it like to have a mate? I mean, I get the part that we all only have one, and that we want to protect them for the rest of our lives, but what about the other stuff? Do I have to spend all my time with her? Do I have to get her dad's approval to be with her? And if he says no, am I supposed to duel him or something, because we don't like to be away from our mates?_

"_Do I have to share my food?" Natsu frowned as he crossed his arms. "I don't know if I want one if I have to let her eat off my plate. I don't like to share. Not even with Happy."_

_Igneel's mouth twitched up a little at the corner. His gaze shifted to watch Grandeeney, where she was lying next to her recently found mate. "You won't mind so much if you find her. In fact, you'll want to share with her. You'll want her to eat so much, she feels sick from eating it all, just to make sure she's had enough."_

"_That doesn't sound right." Natsu moved so he could watch over the valley as well. "Why would I want to make her sick?"_

_Igneel sighed, but said nothing for a while. "It's hard to explain," he said eventually._

"_When you find your mate, you won't have to spend all your time with them, but you'll _want _to. When you're away from them, a part of you will crave them and all it will want is to return to their side."_

"When I'm away from you, all I can seem to think about is when you'll be back again… I want to be around you _all the time_… My entire being craves your presence…"

"_When you find them, you'll feel as though you were never complete before, like you have spent your whole life waiting for them to make you whole."_

"When I'm with you, I just feel… I feel whole."

"_Whether it's your food or your attention or even your horde, you'll want to give them whatever they want, whatever you can, just to make them happy."_

"... my biggest desire is to give you whatever you want and be around you as much as possible."

"_They'll be a part of everything you do. They'll be in your thoughts throughout the day and night. You'll want to spend time with them, whether they're there or not. You'll feel lucky to know them, let alone love them and receive their love in return. You won't feel complete without them around- you won't want to be away from them for any time at all- even for a day._

"My thoughts revolve around how beautiful I think you are. How wonderful you are as a person. How lucky I feel to have met you. How much I would give up just to spend time with you. Lately I've been thinking about the end of my contract and wondering if I can somehow convince you to make another one with me immediately after this one ends so I don't have to go even one day without being around you."

"_Whether you'll admit it or not, your whole being becomes dependant on them. Your magic, your happiness, and to a point, even your sanity. _

"My body, my emotions, my thoughts, my- my entire _being_ doesn't feel complete without you around. I shouldn't be so dependent on you, for any reason. For my magic, for my happiness, for my sanity, and yet that's what it feels like."

"_If you lose them… They take so much of you when they go, that you feel as though you died, too."_

"If you were to drop dead tomorrow, I feel like my life would end…"

_Igneel grinned and looked down again. "You are rather dense sometimes. Perhaps you should just bring her to me and I can tell you."_

_Natsu hit his dad in the leg. "Hey! I am not dense!"_

_His father laughed and easily rolled him onto his back. Natsu fought for a little while, laughing as he was knocked over again and again._

_When he'd finally worn himself out, he quit fighting and just looked up at his father. _

"_If I did bring her, how would you know?"_

_Igneel grinned. "That's my little secret. Just know, if I were to meet her, I would know in a heartbeat she was your mate."_

Natsu jerked awake, disoriented for a moment when he saw the walls and soft light around him instead of the harsh red landscape. The TV in the corner was still going, the characters in some show chattering quietly to fill the silence.

_Lucy was his mate!_

Natsu rubbed his hands over his face hard as he finally put the pieces together. That stupid other presence in his head. His growing attachment and inability to keep his hands to himself. His annoyance and restlessness when she wasn't around.

Natsu's eyes went wide as he realized that was how Lucy had known what his father looked like. Igneel's lingering magic from his scarf must have affected Lucy's dreams. That must have been why she'd avoided the nightmares he'd expected. It hadn't been his scent, it had been Igneel's magic! The dreams Lucy had eventually told him about made so much more sense now. It had been his father's magic that had kept her away from those dark dreams and simply cast them as storm clouds in the distance instead. Somehow, it had recognized Lucy and worked to help protect her from the nightmares.

_Gods_, it all made sense now!

Lucy stirred in his lap, reminding him that she had fallen asleep on him during the movie. He froze, every muscle in his body refusing to move as she readjusted and settled against him once more. That new heat in his veins flared and his instincts roared at him to wake her up and mate with her, here, now, _now._ He couldn't wait, he had to do it _now._

Natsu's hands grasped her shoulders, but he stopped himself before he woke her.

He couldn't mate Lucy. He couldn't mate a _human_. It wasn't possible! It wasn't right. Dragons and humans couldn't mate- they weren't compatible. Lucy would never be able to bare magical children, and if he did mate her, it would stop her from aging. It would take away her human life, and she'd be forced to leave her home. Her job. Her friends.

_As long as you keep your fangs out of her._

Natsu's nostrils flared. Leo had known! He'd told Natsu he wasn't allowed to mate with Lucy _because he knew that Lucy was his mate!_

Natsu used his magic to hold Lucy up as he slid out from under her and then laid her out on the couch. Once she was settled, he began to pace and considered teleporting to Leo's office that instant. The angel had known and hadn't told him! How could he?!

An old story surfaced in Natsu's mind and he realized it was probably better that the angel hadn't. It could have caused serious harm to Natsu's mind or magic if he had. Dragons needed to come to those revelations on their own, so he should actually be grateful that Leo hadn't said anything.

Had he known? Had he known he shouldn't tell Natsu, or did he do it to mess with him? The urge to find out was almost enough to get him to act, but Lucy's soft breathing kept him still. He couldn't just leave her there all on her own. It would take too long to get the proper protection runes up, and even then, he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving. There were no angels here keeping an eye on her when he wasn't around. It was just him. Him and the knowledge that no one would be able to find her while they were on this trip.

Despite the mental itch finally being scratched, Natsu found that he was still jittery. Figuring out that Lucy was his mate was monumental, and his desire to complete the mating ritual _immediately_ was weighing on him. That instinct would take some time to control and he would need space to do it.

Natsu grabbed a blanket, blasted it with his heat, and then laid it over her so she wouldn't get cold. It had grown dark at some point and he didn't want her to wake up while he was gone. Once he had tucked her in, he left the cabin without a sound, heading for the ocean.

He just needed a little time to think.

An hour later, he wasn't feeling any better. If anything, he was more confused. He needed to talk to someone, but who? Happy wouldn't understand, and it would take him too far away to go use the portal to go speak with Grandeeney again.

He wished his father was there to talk to…

Then he realized there was one person he might be able to talk to. Someone who could travel to the human realm on their own and could meet him where he currently sat at the end of the dock. Someone who had their own strange significant other.

Natsu mentally reached out and then whispered her name.

"Erza…"

* * *

"I don't understand, sir. If we just told him the human was his mate, that would mess up his magic and make him no threat at all. Wouldn't that be better?"

"I'm not trying to ruin him forever, we just need him distracted."

"But-"

"Enough." The man at the desk rose and frowned at his companion. "One more argument, and I'll have you removed faster than you can say 'Please, no.' I have given you my orders. Follow through with them and leave Natsu to me. Do you understand?"

The other man nodded once and then bowed. "Yes, sir."

"Inform the other kings I would like to speak with them before you return to your watch."

The second man bowed again. "Yes, sir."

* * *

**I know everyone has been looking forward to Natsu finally figuring out his shit, and here it is! I really wanted to play it the way that it did for two reasons. One, SO MANY of you don't read the dirty version. Two, Natsu is weird. I wanted him to have that realization in an unusual way from the start, and when I had the idea to add in the conversation with Igneel, I had the ****_hardest time_**** not jumping the gun and putting it in sooner. I hope you guys enjoyed it though, because I really enjoyed writing it.**


	64. Chapter 64

**This part is a little shorter than my usual minimum requirements, but I liked how it ended and I was struggling to find something to fill in the end. It's also rather soon after the last one, so hopefully you'll forgive me the shorter word count.**

**I haven't gotten any requests for the next arc, so if you've got a request remember to get it to me soon!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Erza appeared in a swirl of heat and smoke, immediately lowering herself into a defensive position. Natsu's call had been unusual to say the least. She hadn't gotten any sign that there was trouble, but he'd never summoned her before when he didn't need her aid, so she scanned the area as soon as she appeared.

"Hey Erza."

The demon checked around herself once more before looking down at Natsu. He was still sitting at the end of the dock, his eyes on the horizon, but his mind was obviously elsewhere. "Natsu. Are you alright?"

"Not really."

His tone more than his lack of aggression cued Erza into the fact that he wasn't in need of her weapon skills. She sat next to him at the end of the dock, her long tail trailing into the water next to her feet. "What's going on? I don't think you've ever summoned me just to talk. Did something happen?"

"It's been happening for a while I think." Natsu continued to stare blankly into the distance. He was silent for a long time, but Erza was okay with it. She knew Natsu wasn't always so careful with his words; that he was trying to hard to find the right ones showed Erza just how serious the matter was.

When he finally spoke, they were not the words she was expecting to hear. "How did you know that you were in love with Jellal?"

Erza's tail twitched, but there were no other physical signs that his words had affected her. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know a whole lot of people who have experienced it. And of those, you're the only one I can talk to from here, since I can't leave Lucy alone." Erza was annoyed that that was his only reason for calling her specifically until he uttered his next sentence. "And you're the only one who's in love with someone so different from themselves."

That got Erza's attention. Hers and Jellal's relationship had had its ups and downs for years, with problem after problem ever since they met. Of course, that's what she'd signed up for by falling for the rarest hybrid of all- a half demon half angel.

Jellal was not only ostracized by both of his bloodlines, but he was constantly at war with his own desires because they clashed so violently. Some days he only wanted to do good and others he would try and argue passage to the other realms just so he could go kill something.

Erza did her best to help him, but he often felt like a burden and would keep away from her for long periods of time for her own good. Not that she needed it, but he was insistent.

"Things with Jellal have always been rather complicated," Erza said. "I'm not sure I can pinpoint the moment specifically when I figured out I was in love with him. After a while, it just sort of felt obvious that I cared about him." She leaned forward to get a better look at Natsu's face. "Why are you asking? Are you having similar troubles?"

Natsu's blank expression became unhappy. His eyebrows came together and he frowned as he looked down at the water. "It's not possible," Natsu said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she's a human."

Erza almost asked who it was before she figured it out on her own. Shocked, she looked over her shoulder. "Do you mean Lucy?"

He nodded and then squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't be bonded to her. My contract is only supposed to last a year and then I was supposed to go home, having made a new friend. That was it. That was all that was supposed to happen."

Erza's nostrils flared at his words and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Friends? Is that why you've been physical with her?"

Natsu's head whipped her way in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You smell like her, and not in the way you should just by being around her." Erza sighed. "If you just wanted to be friends, you shouldn't have pursued a sexual relationship with her."

"We agreed to stay friends afterwards," Natsu said defensively. "Besides, even if I hadn't, that wouldn't have changed the fact that she's my mate. I would have figured it out eventually anyway."

Erza blew out a breath. "Well, being mated to a human is complicated, I'll give you that. Have you thought about what you'll tell her? Perhaps she cares enough about you she'd be willing to mate with you. From my limited knowledge of dragon matings, doesn't that bond lengthen her lifespan? I know that I've heard it working for elves in the past."

"Elves are magical beings that can bear dragon children, so it's slightly more common. Something about their DNA doesn't mix well with dragons, though, so there's never been a hybrid made. Humans _can _create children with dragons, but they shouldn't because their bodies aren't made to carry them."

"I see." Erza glanced over her shoulder once more. "Don't humans have some sort of system that allows women to take medication that would prevent them from bearing children? You could try that, or she could get an operation to have those organs removed. It's not ideal, but there are ways to prevent her from conceiving."

"That's not the only reason I can mate her."

"So far you've only said that you can't be mated because she is human. Obviously that is not true, since it has happened to you."

Natsu shook his head. "It happened once, and it was a bad time for the human." He ran his hands through his hair roughly once more. "No, there's a reason I can't mate her, as in I can't complete the mating ritual with her."

Erza frowned as she watched him. "I can't think of a single reason that you would not be able to, although I do not know how it is completed. Is she physically unable?"

"It's not that." Natsu groaned. "I don't know if I'm not allowed to share the information. I haven't had any chance up until now since Happy has been spending so much time back home."

"Ah." She nodded. "That explains why he hasn't been here. He must have figured it out and wanted you to have time alone with Lucy so that you could as well."

"Yeah, well, I still can't do anything about it."

"I won't force you to tell me why," Erza said, "but you know that I would never share information shared with me in confidence."

"I know," Natsu said with a small smile. "Even if I'm not supposed to, I don't think I'd mind anyway. Would serve Leo right, for how he's been handling everything."

"Leo?" Erza sat up straighter. "Do the angels have something to do with this thing with Lucy?"

Natsu nodded and then looked her way. "Have you ever heard of the Blood Bond Prophecy?"

* * *

Erza nodded slowly as she sorted through the information that Natsu had given her. "I can see now why you're having so much trouble."

Natsu nodded as well as he looked out at the ocean once more. "Yeah. I managed to get contracted to a human who I shouldn't have been able to, and then bonded with her, even though I can't _actually_ bond with her."

The demon crossed her arms. "I know that you probably don't want to think about it, but have you considered stopping the physical arrangement you have with Lucy? Or perhaps even ending your contract entirely?" Her frown deepened. "It is going to be extremely difficult for you to continue to be around her, Natsu, and while I do not like the idea of you having to be separated from her, for the sake of the realms, it may be necessary."

"Why?" he asked angrily. "Do you think I have no control over myself, too? That I can't be around Lucy without sinking my teeth into her?"

"No, Natsu, that's not it." Erza sighed. "Despite your usual manner of acting first and asking questions later, I can see you've changed in your time here with Lucy. You have put a lot of thought into this already, despite only knowing for a handful of hours. I believe that you understand what is at stake and are going to do your best to avoid the damage that would come with completing your ritual.

"However, I think it would be better for you if you stopped this sooner rather than later." Erza held her hands up to silence his protests. "Let me speak. The longer you are around her, the longer you spend time with her, the longer you are here getting to know her, the harder it will be to leave. The contract will end, yes, and you will be sent back, but what's to stop you from convincing her to resummon you immediately after you are gone so you can return?

"What happens here when you do not leave, do not age, and her friends begin to ask questions years down the road? It will be hard on her to try and hide that you are not aging from her family and friends.

"Added to that, _she_ will age. What happens when she begins to resent that you are still young and attractive, that your body still works with ease, while she gets older and has more trouble moving and isn't as pretty?

"What happens if she gets sick, or when she gets old, and she's dying and you're right there watching? Your mate, that you've spent all that time with, dying in front of your eyes? Will you be able to keep yourself from using your magic to save her life? Will you be able to refrain from mating her so that you can stop watching her waste away before your eyes and preserve that life so she stays with you until it's _your_ time to die?

"Natsu, I don't have it easy, but I can't _imagine_ being in your position." Erza put her hand on his shoulder. "There is no good choice to make here. Either way, you are going to end up losing her. You have to decide which way will be easier for you, in the end. If you leave now, you will miss out on time with her, yes, but it might also hurt less."

Natsu opened his mouth, but shut it as his head whipped around toward the cabin. Erza saw a light gold color begin to mingle with the familiar dark of his eyes and sighed. "She's awake, isn't she?"

"I can hear her sitting up on the couch."

Erza nodded. "Well that's all the proof I need. Even with ears as good as yours, I don't think you would have heard something like that before." Erza turned and watched as the back door to the cabin opened and Lucy stepped out to look around, no doubt searching for Natsu. "You have to think about Lucy too, you know."

Natsu didn't seem to hear her as he watched his mate step farther out into the moonlight. Erza grabbed his hand and waited until he turned his eyes her way. "Natsu, you are in a relationship with a human. They are not only fragile physically, but emotionally as well. If you stay too long, she will likely fall in love with you, and when you leave, it will be equally hard on her. Some humans mate for life, similar to dragons, and if she falls for you, it may take her entire life to get over it."

Erza squeezed his hand. "You have to figure this out soon. Figure out what is best for _both_ of you. She didn't sign up for any of this, so try to do your best for her. She is your mate and your master. Do what you must to protect her and preserve her happiness and wellbeing. At this point, that is all you can do."

Erza got to her feet and offered him her hand. "Come on. I know you don't like to lie, so I will speak with her about why I am here. And know that if you need anything, I am only a summons away."

Natsu stared at her hand for a long moment, not sure if he wanted to accept her aid. Allowing her to help him up felt as though he was accepting her words, and he wasn't sure he wanted to do that just yet.

He didn't like feeling like he had no choice. He didn't like feeling like he had to give Lucy up. He didn't like feeling as though the most monumental moment of his life had also irrevocably ruined it. He didn't like feeling the weight of the realms on his shoulders.

In the end, however, he took Erza's hand.


	65. Chapter 65

**I'm sorry, you guys. I'm not sure you're ready for this.**

**For you NSFW readers, there's an alternate chapter and it is LONG.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy almost asked him at breakfast the next day.

"Hey Natsu?"

"Wha'sup?" he asked, his mouth full of bacon and hashbrowns.

She smiled at him. "Nevermind. Just finish your breakfast."

He shrugged and returned to his food.

She almost asked him again when they were out exploring the jungle.

Natsu had insisted that they swing on the vines like he'd seen in the Tarzan movie. Lucy had tried to explain that it wouldn't work the same as it had in the cartoon, but he didn't believe her until he fell out of the trees several times. Once he figured out the vines weren't placed right, and that they were too flimsy, he used his magic to produce them instead. He even convinced Lucy to join him for a little bit.

It was while they were taking a break in the limbs of a large tree, watching a couple monkeys from inside their magic bubble, that she tried to ask again.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?" He didn't look away from the monkeys, who had pulled some fruit from the tree and were now munching in between gestures and screeches at each other.

"Nothing. Nevermind."

He looked her way. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Later in the afternoon, she tried for a third time.

"Hey, Natsu?"

Natsu was sitting at the table, going through a magazine he'd gotten from a stand in the resort. He didn't look up or say anything when she called for him, so she said his name again. "Do you need something?" he asked, his eyes still on the magazine.

Lucy lost her courage again and looked down at the book in her lap once more. "No, it's nothing."

"There's been a lot of that today, Luce. You okay?"

Lucy wasn't sure how to put it into words. After she'd woken up to find Natsu gone from the cabin, she'd searched for a while before finding him out on the dock with Erza of all people. When they'd joined her on the deck, the demon had assured her that she was just checking in and Natsu wasn't in any trouble. Natsu had been rather quiet until Erza left, at which point he'd suggested they go find something to eat and then head to bed. She had been very interested in the second part, so she'd agreed, but after scrounging up a quick snack, all Natsu had done once they'd returned to their room was wrap her up in his arms and fall asleep. She hadn't pushed for anything more, choosing instead to revel in the feeling of his arms around her as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

She had assumed that Natsu probably thought she needed a break after they'd finally had sex, but she couldn't see that as the cause for his actions over the day. He'd been more hands off with her than he had since they'd started fooling around.

He hadn't held her hand like he normally would. He hadn't looked at her with those steamy, swirling golden eyes like he normally would. He'd barely managed to have more than a five minute conversation when he could usually go on for hours. He hadn't tried to remove her clothes even once throughout the entire day. He'd even gone so far as to tell her to cover up before they'd left to go out into the jungle!

Not only that, but he'd been less enthusiastic about everything. His current state was lackluster compared to usual. He wasn't smiling as much, or getting as excited about things, or being as hands on as usual. Not to say he was being rude or unreasonable- on the contrary, he was even more considerate than usual, but kept a distance between them and was almost _too_ polite when he spoke to her.

It was driving her mad.

"I was just curious if something was wrong."

He turned his head her way but didn't lift his eyes. "Of course not. Why do you ask?"

"You've just been acting strange today. Are you sure you didn't get in trouble with Erza? You weren't like this before she visited."

"I'm not in trouble, Luce, don't worry. She would have punished me as soon as she showed up if I was."

"Then why are you acting so strange?" she asked.

"I didn't know that I was." He finally raised his eyes her way, and she was worried when she saw only black looking her way. "What would you like me to do differently?" he asked innocently.

Lucy didn't like his tone, didn't like his expression, didn't like his attitude, didn't like any part of the situation, and yet, she had no idea how to fix it. "Just act however you want," she said rising to her feet. "I don't want to control how you act, Natsu. That's not something people do in a healthy relationship."

With that she walked out, missing the flash of gold and the intense stare that followed her out of the room.

* * *

Natsu was in trouble. It had been no more than forty eight hours since he'd realized Lucy was his mate, and despite his best intentions, he wasn't holding it together very well.

He'd thought keeping his hands to himself would keep his dragon under control, that it hadn't helped. He'd tried keeping his distance, but that only angered it more. He'd tried holding his breath and putting ointments up his nose to try and keep from inhaling her scent, but his increased senses had proven that would be impossible. His magic, his senses, his _everything_ was so tuned in to Lucy, he couldn't get a break from the need to mark her as his- the need to intertwine their souls and irrevocably tie the two of them together.

It was driving him mad.

At the moment, it was even worse sitting in silence next to her on the plane. She'd sat in her own seat first and decided to put her bag in the middle, forcing him to sit in the aisle seat away from her. He knew she was doing it on purpose, because she was still mad at him, but he couldn't help the hurt that raced through him at her actions. That _she _was choosing to keep space between them was much worse than the self imposed distance he'd been trying to maintain.

He considered trying to use the sleep spell he'd used the night Erza visited again, but knew it would only buy him a couple hours again. That wasn't nearly enough, and he had no idea how to deal with the problem. He didn't want to leave Lucy, but he was beginning to think that perhaps he _didn't _have the self control to keep from bonding to Lucy.

He might really have to leave…

"I don't understand why you're doing this," Lucy whispered.

Natsu immediately perked up. His master was talking to him, and that was more important than anything else in that moment. It was loud on the plane, so no one else would have heard her, but she knew he would be able to.

"Do you regret what we did? Because I'm human?

"Because honestly… I can't imagine anything being more perfect than what we did together. I know that we've been… doing things for a little while now, but none of that compares to actually _being_ with you.

"It was… so much more than I can put into words. But I hate that it's created this distance between us. If I had known this would happen, I never would have suggested we sleep together. Well, you know, in _that_ way."

Lucy knew Natsu had incredible hearing. How good, she couldn't say, but she was pretty sure he could hear her. Even if he couldn't, getting it off her chest felt good, so she continued to talk, even through the tears that collected and fell down her cheeks.

"I've come to depend on you- on having you around. Whether you're getting in the way or talking to me while I work or even cooking us food, I like having you around. The way we've been… I don't like it. It's like I'm living with my father again. Acting polite around each other, but never having a real conversation or even making meaningful eye contact.

"I don't want to end up hating you like I ended up hating him…"

Natsu couldn't take it anymore. He hated the pain he could hear and feel coming off her. He hated the distance between them. He hated the tears he could see and smell. He reached over and grabbed Lucy's hand to tug her to her feet. With his magic, he created a bubble around them and pulled her behind him into the aisle and towards the back of the plane. Using his magic, he scanned the plane for an quiet space, but only found the bathroom empty.

He didn't care. He continued to pull her behind him towards his destination.

What good was magic if he couldn't use it to have his way with his mate wherever he wanted?

* * *

Lucy barely opened her eyes as Natsu rubbed her hand to wake her up. When she eventually managed to wake up enough to look around, she realized that the plane had not only landed, but everyone else had already gotten off.

"I didn't realize we were home," she said groggily.

Natsu grinned. "You were sleeping so nice, I almost didn't wake you up. Unfortunately, I don't think the people working here would be okay with me just carrying your passed out body around."

Lucy smiled a little and then smacked him before stretching out her arms and legs. "Let's get out of here, then. I have a hankering for something made at home. The food at the resort was good, don't get me wrong, but there's just something about a home cooked meal."

"I'm guessing I'm going to be the one cooking the meal, huh?"

Lucy grinned and when she stood, she leaned a little too far forward as she slid her leg over the top of his. Natsu growled a little and ran his thumbs over her nipples through her shirt before she finished standing in the aisle next to him. "You ready, slowpoke?"

"I'll show you a slow poke," Natsu muttered to himself as he stood and followed her off the plane. His dragon was all for his current goal of feeding and then seducing his master, so for the moment, the pull was dampened as they made their way out of the airport and away from the crowds.

"You're lucky it's dark," Lucy said as they found a dark area to take off from.

"Luck has nothing to do with it, master. I chose our return flight on purpose. I refuse to take any sort of transportation if I can avoid it."

"That reminds me," she said as he used his magic to poof away their luggage to another dimension. "You seemed better this time than usual. What did you do?"

"I tried a spell Wendy told me about. It's not as effective as when she uses it, and it's got limited uses before I get used to it, but it did enough." Once she had her arms around his neck, he wrapped her legs around his waist, being more handsy with her than he needed to be. After a while, Lucy giggled. "Are you planning on taking me home, or are we going to stay here all night?"

Natsu looked around and weighed the pros and cons of both. "Well, if we stay here, I could have you again sooner…"

"No." Lucy shook her head. "We are basically in an alley. I don't care if the dumpsters don't stink around here, I have standards, and they are higher than this."

"But a plane bathroom is okay?" he asked with a grin before taking off.

It took Lucy a moment to gather herself, but she managed to find her voice again. "Well how else would I join the mile high club?"

Natsu frowned at her. "What does that mean? Mile high club."

Once Lucy had explained, Natsu forced out a laugh. "You humans are weird."

If only she knew how close he was to getting her there without the plane…

* * *

"That was perfect," Lucy groaned as she finished her food. Forget resort food, Natsu made the most amazing food on the planet. She didn't care if he'd figured out some way to cheat with magic, or that he wasn't a human, she didn't want to eat anyone else's cooking for the rest of her life.

"Luce… It's just spaghetti."

"But it was _so good_."

Natsu smiled softly at her. "Whatever you say, love."

Lucy froze, her water halfway to her mouth as he stood and began to clear off the table. He didn't seem to notice her action as he went to the sink to clean up the dishes, a clearly shocked Lucy left to stare at his back alone at the table.

She couldn't believe he'd said the word. It wasn't a confession, of course, but even using it as a pet name had some implications behind it, right? Should she ask what he'd meant by it? Did it mean he'd figured everything out?

Had he, perhaps, actually fallen in love with her?

Was the idea of them staying friends utterly ruined if he did?

She came to when Natsu waved his hand in her face. "You okay? You've been quiet a while."

Lucy glanced over and saw that the kitchen had been completely cleaned up and it was getting late. "Yeah…" She avoided looking at him as she finished her water and moved to put the glass in the sink. "Sorry, must be tired."

"I hope not too tired," he said as he appeared behind her, his hands warm and gentle as he ran them up and down her sides. "I was hoping we might… christian your bed, I believe is the phrase. We've been together in Peru and over Mexico, but I think it will mean more here." He kissed her temple, her answering hum music to his ears. "If you want to, that is."

Lucy swallowed as she nodded.

One more night. She could wait one more night.

After tonight, she would finally talk to him about everything. Whether he had figured everything out or not, she needed to know where he stood, emotionally. It was eating her alive to not know, but for now, she would wait.

Just one more night.

Natsu's thoughts were very close to those himself.

The next day he was going to talk to Lucy and tell her everything. About dragon mates, about her being his, about the struggle he was in and ask for her help to make sure he didn't convince her to bond with him. For now, he was sure he could keep himself in check, but he was going to need help if he wanted to stay with her. That could wait, though. Tonight he was going to show her just how precious she was to him in the best way he could.

The truth could wait one more night.

* * *

When Natsu finally rolled away, he stretched out and pulled Lucy into his arms. "Mmmm, nap time," he whispered before kissing her.

Lucy made sure to give Natsu a few kisses before he pulled away and she settled against him. "Sounds like a plan."

In no time at all, Lucy was sound asleep, nestled in his arms and looking too damn adorable for her own good.

Natsu fought with his eyelids for a while, just savoring the sight and feel of Lucy in his arms, before he couldn't fight the pull anymore more.

"I love you, Luce," he whispered, before exhaustion finally claimed him as well.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Natsu…"

* * *

Lucy woke up alone with the sun shining through the cracks in her blinds. She glanced around and saw that Natsu had gotten up at some point, but that was nothing new. He didn't sleep nearly as much as she did, so it wasn't the first time he'd woken up first.

It wasn't until she was halfway across the room that she realized she was naked. With a little grin, she went over to her desk and grabbed the tank top and shorts that Natsu had thrown there the night before. Despite the cool temp and the thin clothes, her body warmed at the images that ran through her head. After breakfast, perhaps she would have to drag him back into her room for another round.

She stopped outside his room and knocked on the door. When he didn't respond, she made her way to the kitchen instead, expecting to find him working on breakfast. As she entered the room, she realized there were no food smells, as well as no signs of Natsu. With a frown, she moved to check the whiteboard for messages. When she found nothing there, and no note on the table, she went back to his room.

This time when she got no response, she opened the door and found herself rooted to the spot, the blood draining from her face as she looked around.

There wasn't a single sign that Natsu had ever been there. The bed was made and clean, and the closet was half open with boxes, both full and partially opened, scattered around the room. The desk was clean, if a little dusty, completely devoid of the notebooks and loose paper Natsu had kept his notes on while researching her world.

She went back into her room and couldn't find any of the clothes he'd given her, or the necklace with the dragon he'd gotten her in Peru. The living room had been cleaned up too. The drawer with her papers and summoning tags was gone, as well as the red blanket Natsu had been so fond of and the dragon painting they'd hung over her desk. In the kitchen, she found her food wasn't as well stocked. Her cupboards were no longer filled with every available spice and she had an empty refrigerator shelf where a dozen or so hot sauces should be. Plue's feather toy that Natsu had gotten and hung from the window was gone, as well as the plush, ceiling mounted cat bed.

Lucy checked over the apartment twice more, fighting tears the whole time, before she finally had to admit it.

Natsu was gone.


	66. Chapter 66

**I'm just so excited about this arc. So so excited.**

**Well, not excited at the moment of course. My poor little Natsu and Lucy. I'll make it up to them, I promise.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

Natsu woke up slowly, his limbs stiff and sore and his mouth dry. He stretched out, the fabric beneath him crinkling slightly as it always did. When he relaxed on his back, he allowed his limbs to fall where they wanted and tried to fall back asleep.

It took him a minute, but when he finally realized something was wrong, his eyes shot open and he bolted up. His bed at Lucy's, and Lucy's bed for that matter, did not crinkle- _his nest did_.

Natsu couldn't understand why he was surrounded by the red rocks of his home instead of the shadowed comfort of Lucy's bedroom. He'd fallen asleep there, hadn't he? Of course he had, after they'd finally been together without his dragon interfering.

He'd even admitted out loud that he loved her.

Pain, hot and sharp, shot through him as he realized he couldn't feel anything through their bond. In the time since he'd finally laid with Lucy, he'd noticed an increase in his ability to feel her emotions. She no longer had to feel them strongly for him to sense them, he had been able to feel each and every one if he concentrated hard enough. Right now, though, he felt nothing.

He yanked his shirt off and found that her mark was no longer on his body. His torso was bare of all except his scar. As he ran his hand over where his mark should be, he wondered what had happened to erase it. Had Lucy cancelled their contract?

Fear and pain filled him at the thought that she might have chosen to be separated from him, but he pushed it aside, refusing to accept it.

"Natsu?"

Natsu jumped and turned to see Grandeeney landing on the cliff near his nest. "Grandeeney?" What if he was just visiting home like he had last time? "Can you see me? Like, _really_ see me?"

"Yes, dear. I can." She looked sad as she sat down and sighed. "I am so sorry, Natsu."

_I'm sorry, Natsu._

He remembered hearing that sometime during the night. Who had it been?

"Erza…" Natsu looked around frantically. "Where is Erza? I heard her, I know she was there! Did she take me away from Lucy?"

Grandeeney flinched before she answered. "It was… a group effort, Natsu."

Natsu fell back against the pillows behind him. "What do you mean a group effort? Why did you guys take me, you had no right! I haven't broken any laws, angel, dragon, demon, any!" Natsu shot to his feet. "Put me back!"

"She can't." Erza appeared much as she had the last time Natsu summoned her, but this time her defenses were raised against him. "I am sorry, Natsu, but this is how it has to be."

"What does that even mean?!" Natsu braced his feet. "You guys nullified my contract with no warning or explanation! _You_ are the one breaking the rules, Erza, not me! I demand you put me back right now!"

"I can't do that."

"I'm serious, Erza." Natsu felt no fear as he faced the other demon. His scales erupted from his skin, as well as his tail and wings. That they came out in an instant, and with no pain, completely escaped his notice as he left his nest and stalked toward Erza. "I don't care if you are in charge of the demon's contracts, _mine_ was not violated in any form. You had _no right_ to take me-"

"It was an order, Natsu," she yelled. "I had no choice."

"_An order?_ From who? And why?!"

"Because your bond with your master threatened the stability of the realms, Natsu." Natsu glared up at Grandeeney as she spoke. "They couldn't risk you bonding with Lucy and allowing the prophecy to not be completed."

Natsu turned, understanding beginning to dawn on him. "You said it was a group effort," he accused. "You were involved, weren't you? You helped break my contract and take me away from Lucy."

"I had to, Natsu." Grandeeney's eyes filled with tears as she watched him step away from her. "Natsu, I understand what you're going through-"

"You don't," he said harshly, cutting her off. "Your mate died. Igneel's mate, _died_. _Mine_ is being kept away from me by people I _trusted_."

Erza stepped forward. "Natsu-"

"_Who else_?" he hissed, rounding on the other demon. "_Who else_ was involved?"

"Leo," Erza answered, "and the angel king."

"_Leo?!_" Natsu roared and fire blasted out of his mouth, more than he'd ever produced before. "That _bastard_ took me away from her?! How dare he! I want to talk to him!" He rounded on Grandeeney. "I know you can make portals to the human world without a contract or being summoned. _Send me there_."

"I can't," Grandeeney said, regret clear in her voice and expression. "I'm sorry."

Natsu turned back to Erza. "Let me go talk to him."

"You can't, Natsu." Erza braced herself as she spoke again. "You are banned from the human world for the foreseeable future."

"_WHAT?!"_ Natsu's form exploded and he nearly knocked both Grandeeney and Erza over as he expanded. Oily black mixed with the usual red of his scales, and his eyes burned with a golden fire that leapt from the sockets. His claws dug into the rocks beneath him and his tail whipped back and forth furiously. "_WHAT DO YOU MEAN I AM BANNED FROM THE HUMAN WORLD_?" he roared.

Erza's blade appeared in her hand as she took a cautious step back, her wings primed and ready. "By order of the demon kings, you, Natsu Dragneel, are hereby banned from the human realm until Lucy Hearfilia has passed onto the next life and completed the prophecy."

Natsu growled, his fangs elongated and dripping. "And who is going to keep me here? _You?_"

"Natsu-"

"That is enough!" Grandeeney moved to stand between the demon and hybrid and glared at Natsu. Even in his current form, one larger than he'd ever managed before, she was still bigger than he was.

"Natsu, you knew that this was a possibility. As soon as you figured Lucy was your mate, I am certain you realized that with her role in the prophecy, you would not be able to stay with her indefinitely. Leo said he had warned you to keep from bonding with her before you even realized you would want to, so I know that you understand what is at stake here.

"Erza is only doing her job. Once the kings ruled in favor of terminating your contract, she and Leo went to retrieve you and clean up the mess. Both of them were only following their orders. You and Erza are _friends_, so do not allow your anger to control you, do you hear me? Your father would not want you to lash out like this."

"What mess?" Natsu asked, his voice calm and level, but his eyes glowing with barely suppressed anger. He looked down at Erza. "_What mess?_"

Erza lifted her chin, even as her eyes betrayed her upset. "It was decided that Lucy should be left with no memories of your involvement in her life, which included the things you left behind, the existence of magic…" She faltered, but finished with a sigh. "And her memories and feelings for you."

"You… you erased me?" Stunned, Natsu didn't realize he was changing back. He stared passed Erza, the hurt so intense he actually dug his claws into his chest in an effort to reach it. "_You erased me_?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry, Natsu," Erza said, her own eyes shiny with unshed tears.

They had erased him. Natsu no longer existed to his mate, the person perfectly matched to his personality and desires. The person he cared for more than life itself. The person he would sacrifice anything, _everything_, for. If he were to see her tomorrow, she wouldn't even recognize him. She's smile politely and walk right passed him.

How could this have happened?

What did he do to deserve this?

"Zeref…" Natsu's wings unfolded from his back once more and snapped wide as he shot into the sky.

"Natsu, wait!" Erza raised a hand to try and catch him, but she missed.

"Let him go," Grandeeney said.

"But where is he going?"

"To speak with Zeref."

Erza raised an eyebrow at the dragon. "What will that accomplish? The kings already voted to terminate the contract and contain him here until Lucy dies. No one can change that."

Grandeeney nodded. "I understand, but Natsu needs time. He's just found and then lost his mate, and dragons would do anything to get them back," she said with a small smile.

"You know he's right," she mused. "I don't know what he's going through. When I lost my mate, he was dead, and there was no bringing him back. I imagine it must be worse for him, knowing she is still out there, living a life without him. I do not wish that kind of pain on anyone, least of all him."

"That doesn't explain why he's seeking out Zeref," Erza said.

"Well wouldn't you seek out family in this situation?" Grandeeney asked.

"Ah." Erza nodded. "I had forgotten the Nightmare King was his brother."

"And what good is having a king for a brother if you can not ask him for help in times such as this?" Grandeeney said. "At least he might be able to comfort him, since I am unable to."

"Perhaps." Erza looked away when she saw the tears flowing from the dragon's eyes. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'll be alright." Grandeeney smiled despite her tears. "He needs to grieve in his own way. I will be here when he is ready. Go on," she said as she nudged the demon. "You have a job to do. Do not waste your time here."

"If you are certain."

"I am."

With a final nod, Erza poofed away, leaving the white dragon alone on the tallest cliff face of the dragon's home. Grandeeney looked down at her dear friends' nest and noticed the small sculpture that had been brought back with Natsu. Erza hadn't said anything when she'd left it in the nest with Natsu, but Leo had said plenty with his eyes.

Grandeeney carefully picked it up with her claws and lifted it so she could study the visage of her former friend. It was beautifully made, and captured Igneel's essence and smile perfectly.

Tears flowed more freely as she set it back down and looked towards the sky.

_I am so sorry, Igneel._

**Enqiorbviowbv**

Lucy returned to work two days after Natsu disappeared, just as she was supposed to. Her friends had called and messaged, seeking details of her adventures, and asking to get together, but Lucy had said no.

It was obvious from her conversations with them that they didn't remember Natsu. They knew she'd gone on a trip with some friend that had visited town, but they didn't remember the name. She'd spent the better part of the last two days going over her apartment and checking anywhere she could think to for Natsu, completely confused about where he would go or why he would leave.

She'd visited her mom's clearing the night before, finding nothing out of the ordinary except for a few small piles of melted wax.

That had been all the reassurance she'd needed that he had been real. Wherever he had gone, whatever kind of memory magic had been used on her friends to forget him, _he had existed_. She wasn't crazy. He wasn't some figment of her imagination.

He had been there.

They had laughed together.

They had played together

They had cooked together.

They had lived and explored together.

They had touched and tasted each other.

They had been together… loved together.

Lucy quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before she entered her work. She'd been careful with her make up, to try and hide how much crying she'd done, but if she started up again, it would all be for naught.

She made it through the lobby, through the elevator ride, and to her desk without finding anyone she spoke to regularly, so she took a deep breath as she sat in her desk chair and set aside her purse, allowing herself a moment to try and pull herself together.

The physical exhaustion from all her crying and angry cleaning had taken a lot out of her, but the emotional pain was draining as well. She'd tried, time and time again, to resummon Natsu. She didn't have the copy of Happy's summoning circle or Natsu's anymore, but she had tried to recreate it, over and over again. Nothing she had done had worked, and after a while, she'd just had to hope Natsu would come on his own. When that hadn't happen, she'd gone back to crying herself to sleep, alone in her too big bed.

She pulled the pile of papers across her desk so she could look at them, but stopped as a flash caught her eye. Lucy slid the papers to the side, not noticing when some of them fell to the floor as she leaned forward with a shaky hand and picked up what she had uncovered.

The little glass dragon Natsu had gotten her from Japan was still there. Whoever had cleaned up had clearly not checked her work place, and she had never been so grateful for anything in her life.

She nearly dropped the fragile figurine as she picked it up and brought it to her face to study it. Even in the harsh fluorescents, the glass threw colored shapes across her hands in red, orange and yellow.

Lucy couldn't stop the tears that filled her eyes again, and in a haste that left her office in disarray, she grabbed her bag and that little dragon and left the building to return home.

She could go back later.

For now, she needed more time.

Time to mourn the magical dragon hybrid that had shown up in a flurry, thrown her life into disarray, and after getting her to fall in love with him, had disappeared without a trace.

**Well I've got tears in my eyes after that. Anyone else?**


	67. Chapter 67

**This one… the reveals are real guys. I'm sure some of you saw this coming, though.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Zeref!" Natsu yelled for his brother as he flung the front doors of the castle open. Behind him, two guards groaned on the front step as they tried to get to their feet. "Zeref!"

Two maids scurried out of the entryway as a tall, black skinned demon with a back as straight and stiff as his collar entered with a deep frown. "Excuse me, sir, but I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Your guards couldn't stop me, so don't think you'll fair better," Natsu warned.

The butler straightened even more and glared at Natsu down his nose. "Sir, it is _highly_ inappropriate-"

"ZEREF!"

"I may not have your keen hearing, Natsu, but there is no need to shout _quite _so loudly." Natsu turned and found his brother descending the stairs from the second floor, a white robe wrapped around him that made his black skin and eyes appear even darker in comparison. "Honestly, did you _have _to assault my guards?"

"They wouldn't let me in," Natsu said. "So I got them out of my way."

The butler sniffed loudly and turned towards Zeref. "Sir, please allow me to-"

"There is no need," Zeref said as he waved his butler away. "My brother can come and go as he pleases, of course. You do not have to call for the private guard."

The other demon huffed and then left after one more nasty glare Natsu's way.

Zeref gave Natsu a small smile as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "It's nice to see you, broth-"

"Did you vote to send me back home?"

Zeref raised a brow at him. "Is that really how you say hello nowadays? Did your father teach you no manners whatsoever? I know our mother didn't care about such things, but I expected more from the dragon king."

"_Did you vote to send me back home_?" Natsu asked again through clenched teeth.

Zeref's smile vanished and he sighed. "In my defense, I was not aware we were speaking of you at the meeting until the votes had been cast."

"So you did," Natsu accused.

"Natsu, this is about so much more than just taking a dragon hybrid away from his mate.

"_Just?!"_

"This is the fate of the realms we are talking about," the king continued, ignoring his brother's interruption.

"_I_ am here to talk about _my_ mate. I don't give a flying Exceed about the damn realms."

"Precisely." Zeref gestured down the hall and then began to lead the way to his study. Natsu had no choice but to follow. While he didn't care about an audience, he wanted to continue the conversation, so he allowed Zeref to lock them away in his office before he spoke again. "My contract was broken without my knowledge or consent. Aren't there laws against that kind of thing?"

"There are, but this was a special case."

"And why did you assume it _wasn't_ me?" Natsu asked, changing gears.

"Leo only said it was a hybrid who had entered a year long contract with the Heartfillia heir and bonded to her. While I have not spoken with you in some time, I did not think you would want to leave your nest unoccupied that long, so I assumed it was one of the others."

Natsu scoffed and began to pace. "I don't have to worry about the others taking anything, so I can take contracts as long as I want." He glared at his brother once more. "Why didn't you change your mind once you found out it was me?"

"We had already completed the vote and the meeting. Plus, it would have been a majority vote to break the contract either way." Zeref sighed. "And honestly, if I had known it was you from the start, I more than likely would have still voted to send you back. It would have been more difficult," he rushed to add when Natsu swung around angrily, "but I would have still made the choice to bring you back."

"This is absurd!" Natsu flung his arms in the air. "I have been around Lucy with the knowledge she's my mate for a while and I still haven't completed the ritual. Obviously, I know what I'm doing and I understand the consequences if I were to follow through, but _I haven't,_ so just put me back! I had everything under control!"

"Did you?" Zeref asked, his scrutinizing eyes never leaving Natsu's face.

Natsu growled. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"You know what."

Zeref moved to sit at his desk, giving Natsu a chance to collect himself. "You've always been a poor liar, Natsu."

"Then don't act like you don't know I'm lying." Natsu went back to pacing. "I was struggling, sure, but I was figuring it out. I knew I couldn't bond with her- I would have found a way to cope with the instinct if I'd just been given enough time."

"We couldn't risk you failing," Zeref said. "We had to separate you two."

"So you just _assumed_ I would fail? All of you! Everyone just _assumed_ I would mess up, so you yanked me back here without even _talking_ to me about anything!"

"Natsu, the mating bond is strong in dragons-"

"Don't act like you know _anything_ about dragons and their bonds to their mates. _You don't even know how the ritual is completed!_" Natsu yelled. "Lucy can't fly. Lucy can't pierce scales with her teeth. There isn't even a way for her to complete the ritual, and her lifespan wouldn't be affected unless she did!"

"In case you were not aware, Grandeeney came to speak with us, too." Zeref leaned back and crossed his legs. "She believed it was possible for you to find a way to use your magic to complete the ritual. She explained how incentivised a bonded dragon can be when his dragon is denied the opportunity to bond to his mate. That, combined with what the angel king and leader of the Zodiac had to say, made it hard for us to vote any other way."

"That's just great!" Natsu barked out a humorless laugh. "Everyone who's supposed to be my friend got together behind my back and conspired to rip me away from the person who means the most to me in all the realms. Great!"

"Natsu…" Zeref got to his feet and made his way around his desk. "I didn't make this decision to hurt you." He put his hands on Natsu's shoulders to stop his pacing. "Be honest with me, please. Do you _really_ think you would have been able to stay in the human realm with Ms. Heartfilia and keep yourself from bonding with her? Can you say with one hundred percent certainty that you would have maintained an appropriate distance?"

Natsu's glare slowly softened and he eventually hung his head to hide his tears. "I was determined to succeed. _I wanted to stay with Lucy,_" he whispered in a choked voice.

"I know, little brother." Zeref pulled Natsu close and hugged him. "I know. I hate that you got pulled into this prophecy nonsense. From what I understand, it should have been impossible for you to be summoned in the first place."

"It was probably because of the stupid prophecy," Natsu mumbled against Zeref's shoulder. "Some stupid nonsense about two and one making a couple. That part couldn't come true if I didn't show up in her world."

Zeref nodded and then release Natsu, smiling as he pretended not to see Natsu's tears. "Well, I've never been a fan of prophecies, personally. They're often too vague to figure out and generally pointless, even if they're right. What will be will be, no matter who's warned ahead of time."

The demon stepped back and folded his hands inside the sleeves of his robe. "Is there anything I can do, Natsu? Anything at all to help you?"

Natsu's lips quivered a little as he looked his brother in the eye. "Send me back to her. Just for a little while, so I can say goodbye."

"I can't do that," Zeref said apologetically. "She has already had her memory wiped of everything to do with you, not to mention the other kings have banned you from returning to the human realm until she has met the required natural end of her life."

Natsu looked hopeful for the first time since he'd arrived. "You didn't agree to ban me from her world?"

"Of course not," Zeref said with a small smile. "I trusted that you could behave yourself if you were summoned for a contract with another human. And the way they took you was bordering on barbaric. The least they could have done, for your sake, was allow you to say goodbye to her before bringing you back home."

Natsu struggled to breathe as pain washed through him once more. "I miss her, Zeref. I just saw her a few hours ago, and it already feels like it's been too long." The tears finally fell as Natsu sat heavily on the floor and wrapped his arms around his legs. "She's just so wonderful, and being around her…" He stared off into space as the tears began to fall in earnest.

"I just want to go back and see her. I don't even care if I got to interact with her. I just want to see her again. See her smile. Hear her laugh. Smell her scent." He squeezed his eyes shut as he wrapped his arms around his legs even tighter. "_I miss her so much_."

"I know, little brother." Zeref squatted down and ran his hand across Natsu's back. "While I have not experienced that kind of love before, I have witnessed what that kind of loss can do to a person." He squeezed Natsu's shoulder and then hummed a little. "How about you go spend some time in my private realm? Get away from the boring red of ours and spend a little time on your own. Take all the time you need to grieve over there, and while you're away, I'll see what I can do about changing the other kings' minds about your banishment. What do you say?"

Natsu looked up, his face already red from crying, and stared at his brother in disbelief. "You'd really do that?"

"Of course," Zeref said with a reassuring smile. "You are my brother after all. It's only natural for me to want to use my power to help you out when I can, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Natsu rubbed his nose against his sleeve. "You won't get in trouble with the other kings, will you?"

"The worst they can do is say no. Don't worry about me, Natsu." Zeref helped his brother to his feet and pulled him toward a dais on the other side of the room. "You just go and take some time for yourself. The castle is stocked with food and I have plenty of staff over there maintaining the property. If you want anything, just ask. They will see to it that every one of your needs are met. Well, any that they are able to meet at any rate." Zeref's smile grew sad. "They can't send you back to your mate, but they can work wonders to accomplish anything else."

Natsu gave his brother another quick hug before taking the step up and turning around. "Are you sure you're okay with me staying there?"

"Of course," the demon said with a smile. "My home is your home, Natsu. We're the only family we have left. Who else will be there for us if we're not? If you need me for anything, just let the staff know and they will contact me. The same goes for when you want to come home. Getting back can be tricky since you can only enter or leave through this portal, but I will get you back as soon as I hear that you want to." Zeref pulled back and lifted his hands, which were already glowing with black energy. "I love you, little brother."

"Love you, too, Zeref. Thanks." Natsu smiled and then he was gone.

When the portal had closed, Zeref allowed his hands to fall and he let out a long breath.

"That was a touching performance."

Zeref didn't even turn as he stared at the spot where Natsu had disappeared. "You know, I had some doubt when you said you could hide in the same room as him, but it seems you were right. He didn't even suspect that anyone else was here."

Midnight came to stand next to him with a bored expression. "It helps that his mind is completely occupied by thoughts of that human." He glanced over. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Not many in the demon world do, since it's only rumored that my mother birthed him."

"Seems your staff will all know soon enough."

"My staff know better than to share personal information about me." Zeref gave the other demon a small smile. "Next time I tell you I have something handled, perhaps you will believe me, hm?"

"Speaking of 'handling' something, where is my father?"

Zeref folded his hands once more within his sleeves. "He is being suitably punished for lying to me. Had he informed me he was using your abilities to perform the tasks I assigned him with Natsu, I would have been more forgiving." He squinted at the other demon out of the corner of his eye. "Try to keep that in mind now that you have taken his place, will you?

Midnight nodded and then moved across the room again with a yawn. "Yes, sir." He crossed his legs and floated in the air, his shadows swirling faintly beneath him. "So what's next?"

"We need to allow the angels time to drop their guard. Without the presence of Natsu, they will surely send the extra angels back home and lower Ms. Heartfilia's magical footprint back to what it was. Once enough time has passed, we will be able to retrieve her with minimal effort."

"What if Natsu comes back before then?"

"I have enchanted my realm to run slower than our time here and in the human realm. Trust me," Zeref said with a sinister smile and dark, flashing eyes. "We'll have plenty of time."


	68. Chapter 68

**This is a public service announcement: Remember to take a shower! (Give it a few minutes, you'll understand.)**

**I have not seen any reviews or PMs with suggestions or requests for this arc, so for now I won't be adding in anything from you readers. If anyone still wants to suggest something, just let me know and I'll see what I can do!**

**Also, to make sure everyone is on the same page, those scenes with the unnamed men were in fact Zeref with his former right hand man, Zero. That was the big reveal last time so I hope everyone caught it- I don't want you to be surprised later on by the backstabbing Zeref is obviously plotting.**

**CathJorda: I really don't. I mentioned before that I realized Natsu's inner dragon was a lot like Rhage's in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, but I didn't consciously use that as inspiration for that part of my story. When I write, I more often than not start with a general idea- who I want in it and where I want them to go- and kind of follow where that leads. I may plot out whole arcs ahead of time if I get a really good idea (so I don't forget anything) but most of the time, I go where my characters lead to the conclusions that feel most natural. I'm not sure if I've read a book or series that I would say is anything like mine, but if you're looking for mythical creatures and romance, the Black Dagger Brotherhood is wonderful. It's got about a dozen stories in it already and it's not done yet. It's my favorite books series and the only one I actively try to keep up on buying. If you like prophecy and romance, I really liked the Irish Trilogy by Nora Roberts. If you want paranormal, suspense, romance, mystery, and to not see the light of day for a solid weekend, I recommend the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. I legitimately finished four of the first five books in that series over a weekend, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. It was so enthralling, I didn't stop reading except to get something to eat. I even took it with me to use the bathroom, it was SO good. There are other books that come before that, but you don't miss out on anything if you want to read about the MacKeltars later. Those are also really good, since they add more magic to the mix by using time travel. And I've always been a sucker for stories about Scotsmen, especially from earlier centuries. However, all of these series contain sex scenes, so use your best judgement if you're not into that.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Loke knocked on Lucy's door as he called out her name. "Lucy? Hey, you home?"

When there was no answer, Loke used his magic to feel out the interior of Lucy's home. Cana had called him earlier in the day, concerned since they hadn't seen Lucy at work in over a week. She should have returned to work by now, but no one had seen her, and she wasn't responding to anyone's texts or calls, or answering her door.

Loke worried something had gone wrong with Natsu's extraction so he'd come to check on her to find out what was going on. From what he could sense, Lucy was inside working at her desk, with Plue pacing the kitchen. The angel frowned and then used his magic to unlock the door. Worst case scenario, he could just say the door had been open.

When he pushed open the screen door, Plue came around the corner yowling loudly. He walked swiftly around Loke's legs and then ran towards his empty food bowl, whining the whole time. After he shut the door, Loke entered the kitchen and found it a mess, with dirty dishes piled up in a few places, and a half empty jug of milk on the counter.

When Plue continued to whine and circle him, Loke bent down to retrieve his bowl and went to fill it with food. Once he had replaced it, Plue pounced on it and began to scarf the food down with gusto. Loke noticed his water bowl was also empty, so he hovered his hand over it and used his magic to quickly fill it as well before heading for the living room. When he entered, it took him a long time to process what he was seeing.

Lucy was a mess. Her hair had been put into a bun at some point, but most of it had fallen out and then been tugged to the side. He could see from across the room that it was greasy and had crumbs of some sort in it, probably put there from messy hands trying to fix it. She was wearing stained shorts and a tank top with a cardigan that was only on one arm. Scattered around her were multiple notebooks and loose sheets of paper. She was leaning over a notebook, her pen moving furiously over the paper in front of her. As he watched, she shook the pen in her hand and after a few scribbles on a spare sheet, dropped it, ignoring it as it fell to the floor, and grabbed another before continuing.

"Uh, Lucy?" The blonde gave no indication that she'd heard him, so he took a few steps into the room and tried again, louder. "Lucy!"

Lucy jerked and as she whipped around, she threw her pen his way, nailing him in the middle of his forehead. "Shit!" he cried.

"Loke!" Lucy quickly stood and moved to retrieve her pen and look at his face. "I am so sorry, I thought you were an intruder. I thought I locked the front door."

"Well it was unlocked when I got here," he said as he rubbed his head. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Lucy's eyes widened and she scurried back to her desk to clean up the papers and close her books.

"Doesn't look like nothing," he mused as he walked closer. Lucy's movements sped up as she tried to hide everything from him.

In her rush, she missed one of the papers falling to the floor, so Loke used his magic to pull it to him through the air before she could notice. When she was done, she tossed a large novel on top of the pile and turned around to find Loke skimming the page he'd caught. "Oops! Missed one!" she said and leaned forward to rip the paper from his hands and add it to the pile.

Loke felt himself going a little numb. Lucy had been writing about Natsu, which should have been impossible. He'd personally performed the spell to bury those memories in her brain so deep they couldn't be triggered by anything. What had happened? How did she remember when no one else did?

"Lucy, who's Natsu?"

"Hmm?" Lucy's eyes widened and then she scoffed. "No one. Nothing. Just a name. I started on a project and I just got kind of caught up in it, you know how I can be. Why are you here?" she asked suddenly as she leaned against the desk to hide her pile from view. "I'll make it to the bar tonight, don't worry. I'm still off until next week."

"Lucy, what are you talking about? It's not Friday."

"Oh." Lucy's wild eyes grew confused. "Did I write through the night again? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to miss it. I'll be there next week for sure."

"Lucy…" Loke moved forward to stand in front of her and gently grabbed her shoulders. "Lucy, it's Saturday. Cana said you were supposed to return to work Monday but no one has seen you yet. I worried a little that you didn't visit for dinner this week, but I just assumed you were trying to catch up on work or sleep or something." He frowned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Lucy jerked away from him and walked towards the kitchen, where she paused in the doorway and looked around. Loke followed, not sure how to continue, when she moved forward again. "I'm sorry, I guess I just lost track of time. I'll call Mira later and apologize, and I'll send the girls a text letting them know I'm okay."

With jerky movements, Lucy began to clean up the kitchen, a frown fixed to her face and her eyes wide and shiny. "I didn't mean to worry you guys, but as you can see I'm fine, so you can leave if you want. I'm sure you have things you need to do."

"Lucy-"

"Really Loke, I'm okay. You can leave, honest." When Plue rubbed against her leg, she jumped, nearly kicking the feline across the room. "Oh, I'm sorry Plue." Her eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh, Plue, I am so sorry! I'm so late feeding you aren't I? Don't worry, I'll get you something."

"I already did, Lucy." Loke rapidly tried to figure out how to fix the mess he found himself in. Lucy remembered Natsu, at least to some extent, and he would bet that was why she was acting so strange. He had no idea how to fix it, but he decided it would be best to start with finding out how much she remembered.

Lucy made her way to the cupboard and filled Plue's bowl before giving it to him. "I just want to make sure he gets enough." She glanced at Loke before looking away, clearly ashamed. "I, uh, I don't remember when I fed him last."

"Lucy, you are clearly not okay." Loke took the bag from her and put it away before leading her to the kitchen table and forcing her to sit. When she tried to stand again, he grabbed her shoulders and held her still. "Sit."

"But I-"

"Sit."

Lucy began to nervously play with her fingernails as she sat in her chair and Loke moved towards the counter. He quickly put together a cup of tea and brought it back to her. He curled her hands around the cup and then moved to sit across from her.

"Lucy, tell me what's going on," he said softly.

Lucy's unfocused eyes continued to stare straight passed him. She was a wreck, having not showered in what he assumed had been days, with dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping. Now that she was sitting still, the nervous jitters had lessened, but he couldn't be sure just how much damage had been done until she spoke to him.

"Lucy," he whispered as he leaned forward and wrapped his hands around hers. "Tell me what's going on. You can trust me, you know that, but I can't help if you don't talk to me."

Lucy's eyes struggled to focus on him, but when they did, tears began to build almost immediately. "I don't think I can with this."

"That's not true," he said firmly. "You can trust me with anything. I live to serve, princess," he added with a smile. "Just tell me what you need."

"I need everyone to remember what I remember," she whispered quietly.

Loke's stomach dropped and he had to swallow before he could find his voice and ask, "Remember what?"

Her tears spilled over as she said the name she should not know in a broken whisper.

"Natsu…"

* * *

Natsu threw another mug at the wall as he continued to try and work through the aggression boiling within him. He'd been there all of five minutes before collecting as many mugs, glasses and plates as he could carry and found an empty stone wall. As king, his brother could get whatever he needed, so he didn't feel bad about breaking his brother's dishes.

Unfortunately, the more he tried to work through his anger, the more it seemed to grow.

Grandeeney. Erza. His brother. Even Leo, although that part didn't surprise him so much. He'd been betrayed by every single person who should have been on his side. For all he knew Happy was in on it, too, but the little Exceed had been absent so much recently, he couldn't be sure. What kind of friend was that, to just avoid him as much as he had been? Clearly something was going on. It would have been nice if he'd talked to Natsu about it, told him what was going on before disappearing.

As another plate smashed against the wall, Natsu grabbed a large glass and wound up, but paused before he let it go. Something tugged at him, deep in his chest. He was almost certain he'd felt something similar when Lucy had been upset about things in the past.

Natsu roared as he threw the glass, his anger not relieved even a little bit as it smashed and rained glass down around him.

He was stuck, forced to remain parted from his mate, and he was experiencing phantom pains that reminded him once more of what he had lost.

With a blast of heat, Natsu morphed into his much less used demon form and allowed his anger to take over as he took off through a nearby window, determined to find something he could smash that might allow him to externalize the pain he was feeling.

He wanted to break something as much as his heart had been broken.

* * *

"Who is Natsu?" Loke asked.

Lucy sniffled and wiped her nose against the sleeve she was still wearing. "He's the friend I went traveling with. We… we went to Aspen over Thanksgiving. We went to the Amazon over New Year's. We lived together, here, while he was looking for somewhere to move." She pressed her lips together to try and stem her tears before she spoke again. "We started dating a while ago."

Damn it, Natsu. You really did it, didn't you? "Lucy… did you fall in love with him?"

Lucy nodded as a sob escaped her throat. "I tried- I tried not to. I'm an adult, I thought I could remain friends and still be with him, but I… I couldn't. I didn't…" Another sob escaped her before she buried her face in her hands. "And now he's gone! And no one seems to remember him for some reason!"

Loke felt like the lowest scum on the face of the planet. This was all his fault. What Lucy was going through- the pain, the uncertainty, the confusion- was all his fault. For whatever reason, it seemed his wipe spell hadn't been successful, and in his infinite wisdom, he had waited several days to check in with her.

He was a failure of a guardian angel.

And he was about to fail even more.

He couldn't just sit there and allow Lucy to continue to suffer. One of his major objectives as Lucy's guardian angel was to keep her happy. She was safe, for the moment, but she was clearly not happy. If his spell had failed, there was no point in trying to take those memories again, which meant he would have to tell her the truth. About everything.

There were no lies for him to hide behind. No stories that could effectively cover up what was happening that she wouldn't see through. He had to tell her about the prophecy, about her family, about angels, about Natsu… about him. Even if it made her hate him, even if it got him in trouble with the king, even if he was punished for breaking the terms of the Hearfilia's contract… he had to tell her.

He took her hands into one of his and pulled a handkerchief out of the air to clean off her face. "Lucy, it's okay."

"No it's not," she argued with a shake of her head, her eyes still squeezed shut.

"It is," he insisted and then put the fabric in front of her nose. "Blow."

"What?"

"Just do it. Blow." Lucy gave him an incredulous look, but she did as instructed until her nose was clear and he put the fabric away. She allowed him to keep his hold on one of her hands, but used the other one to take a sip of her tea.

"Thank you," she said.

"Like I said, I am at your service." Loke's grin faded and he let out a long breath. "Lucy, you're not going to like what I'm about to say, but I need you to listen to me anyway. I won't stay longer than I need to to tell you everything you need to hear, but I won't leave until I've said my piece. Can you agree to give me that much?"

Lucy frowned in confusion, but nodded nonetheless. "Of course. What do you need to tell me?"

Loke let out a long breath. "I remember Natsu, too."

Lucy tried to get to her feet, but Loke stopped her and made her sit back down. "You remember him?!" Lucy looked so hopeful, it broke Loke's heart.

"Yes," he said with a nod, "and he didn't leave because he wanted to. He left because he was forced to."

Lucy's eyes widened. "By who? Who made him leave?"

Loke's lips pressed together as he watched the anger filter into those soft brown depths, but he couldn't go back. Not anymore.

"Me."


	69. Chapter 69

**This one… this one did not go where I thought it was going to go.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Lucy stared at Loke as though he had spontaneously grown a second head. "You… what?"

"I made Natsu leave. Well, that's not entirely true," he corrected, "but I convinced the ones with the power to do so to end your contract with Natsu."

The blonde sat back in her seat, completely stunned and unsure how to react.

Loke was her friend. Had been for about a decade. He was a flirt, sure, but he'd always been as solid as any of her other friends. He'd been in her corner constantly since they became friends, a rock that would support her no matter what was happening in her life.

And he was claiming that _he_ was the one who sent Natsu away.

"Wait…" Lucy leaned forward, the wheels finally starting to turn. "You said contract. What contract?"

Loke took a deep breath and let it out as he leaned back in his chair, just out of swinging distance. "The contract you formed with Natsu the day he arrived. The day that you somehow managed to summon him."

Lucy shot out of her chair, her fists curled in anger. "How do you know about that?"

Loke looked her in the eye, refusing to back down. "Because he's not the only magical being tied to you, Lucy."

Lucy's leg swung out but he caught it before it could connect. "_Why?_" she asked, not even trying to pull her leg back.

Loke pushed her leg away and stood. He had known she'd get mad, but hadn't expected her to get physical quite so quickly, and he wanted space to defend himself. "Because I am bound by the terms of your family's contract and the rules set forth by the angel king."

"The angel king?" A harsh laugh escaped her. "You work for the angel king? There _is_ such a thing as an angel king?"

"Yes," Loke answered as he watched her movements carefully. "I'm sure Natsu told you about some of the other realms. There is only one angel realm, and the king that resides there is what you would call my boss."

"Who are you?" she asked, her anger sharpening her gaze and giving her cheeks some much needed color. "_Who are you?_"

"My real name is Leo. Leo the Lion, head of the Zodiac, the strongest of the guardian angels in my realm."

"Guardian… angel?" Lucy began to giggle. Her giggles turned into laughter, and then loud, hysterical guffaws. "_You're a guardian angel?!_"

"Yes, Lucy. I am _your_ guardian angel."

Tears began to fall and Lucy's laughter slowly turned into sobs. Loke felt helpless as she curled in on herself, trying to stem the sobs that continued to come. He wanted to help her, to comfort her, but he knew coming closer at that moment would only make it worse.

"Some- guardian," she eventually gasped. "You-" More sobs were wretched from her mouth, making words difficult for a while.

"You sent away the person- that I _love_. And for _what?!_" she screamed, her anger suddenly stopping her tears. She hiccuped and then shot forward so quickly, Loke barely dodged her fist as it tried to collide with his stomach. "_Why_ Loke?! _I love him, WHY DID YOU SEND HIM AWAY?!_"

Loke continued to try and protect himself, but with her anger and the wild way she was swinging, he was afraid he'd hurt her. She swung out with her leg, not even aiming at him, and connected solidly with the underside of her kitchen table, knocking over the far chair and scaring Plue, who bolted from the room.

With no other choice, Loke shot forward and wrapped an arm around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Then he put his hand to her forehead, knocking her out. He sighed as she finally stilled, her breathing long and even. With care, he picked her up and brought her to her room so he could lay her down.

He could feel her anger, and her sadness, and the uncertainty that plagued her, even in sleep. Whatever she had been up to lately, it was obvious that she hadn't been sleeping enough. He'd never seen her react to anything the way she'd reacted his news. Lucy was usually so much more level headed. He'd expected anger, yes, but he'd also expected her to ask questions, to learn the why of his actions and the full truth of what was happening before she'd throw any swings. He'd been prepared to allow her that, to let her get out her aggression, but he couldn't do that until she'd slept. It would be better for both of them if she was able to sleep first.

Before he covered her, he used his magic to heal her leg, which was still trickling blood and swelling already with a large bruise. Once she'd been tucked in, he pulled out his phone and left the room.

He dialed his restaurant and the phone was answered after one ring. "Loke's Celestial Dining, this is Aries speaking, how may I help you?"

"Aries, it's Leo. Can you lock up and come over to Lucy's please?"

"Of course," the other angel answered. "I'm sorry, do you need me to bring anything?"

"Just yourself, please. Thanks."

"You got it."

Loke hung up and then held the phone in front of himself, pondering his options before placing a few more calls.

Lucy had already been away longer than planned. Her work and their friends would be okay for a few more days.

* * *

When Lucy finally woke up again, she felt incredibly stiff. She rolled and stretched and rolled some more, loosening up every muscle she could. When she eventually stopped moving, she opened her eyes slowly to see her ceiling above her and Plue curled up on the other pillow, where he usually slept at night. At least, where he slept when Natsu wasn't…

It all came back to Lucy in an instant and she shot up in her bed and looked around. She was alone, her room a little messy, but otherwise how she usually kept it. There was still no sign of Natsu, except for the small crystal dragon on her bedside table, which she leaned towards and quickly pulled into her hands with a deep sigh. Having it close helped, and right now, she could use all the reassurance she could get.

She thought back to her conversation with Loke and realized she had many more questions than answers. She could admit she had reacted poorly, but thinking back, she attributed that to her lack of sleep. If he'd been right, she'd been locked up in her apartment for almost a week with her papaers, trying to write down every single thing she could remember about Natsu and their time together.

Every conversation.

Every adventure.

Every laugh.

Every touch…

Tears threatened to fall once more, but she held them back. First things first, she needed to find Loke.

First to apologize for her behavior and then to figure out just what was going on. She got up to grab her robe from her chair, but halfway across the room she stopped. Her free hand made its way into her hair and she realized it was clean. She didn't remember the last time she'd taken a bath, but she could smell her soap and shampoo on her skin. Lucy frowned as she grabbed her robe and pulled it on with jerky movements.

"It wasn't me, you know."

The voice, so unexpected, had her whipping around and throwing the only thing in her hand. A split second too late, she realized she had messed up.

Loke merely raised a hand and the little dragon froze in midair before floating back her way. Lucy carefully took it in her hands again and held it to her chest.

To her surprise, Loke didn't look well. His hair lacked its usual perfect spikes, and his suit was ruffled and clearly slept in. He looked sad and tired, and all around run down. His shoulders even slumped as he put his hands in his pockets and gave her a small smile. "I had Aries come over and give you a bath, so I didn't see anything I shouldn't have, I promise."

Lucy was having trouble figuring out where to start, so she just nodded and said, "Thanks. I needed it, I think."

Loke's only response was a small smile. "I'm sorry about what I did."

"You mean with Natsu?"

"That too, but I was referring to knocking you out."

Lucy nodded slowly. "Unless I'm misremembering, it was probably your safest choice. I, uh…" She crossed her arms, pulling her robe tight around her. "I didn't get much sleep the last week. I reacted poorly. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I deserved it." Loke swallowed. "Do you mind if we sit and talk? I'm sure you have questions, and I still have a lot to tell you."

She nodded. "Sure. I'd love some tea."

"And probably something to eat," Loke said a second before her stomach growled. His smile was a little bigger as he added, "You've been sleeping for nearly twenty hours. Come on, I can throw you something together pretty quick."

Lucy's mouth began to water at the mention of food. Dragon still in hand, she followed him out of her room and towards her kitchen. "I would _kill_ for some mozzarella sticks and garlic bread. And a strawberry ice cream shake."

"Your wish," he said and moved towards her fridge, "is my command."

"I don't have any of those things, Loke."

"I can still manage," he said. He grabbed a small bag of shredded cheese, the last few slices of her bread, and the little cart of ice cream from her fridge. "You know, I _do_ run a restaurant, so I know a thing or two about cooking."

He pulled out a plate and a large glass and set them down next to his ingredients, then raised his hands to hover over them. Swirling golden light emanated from his palms and the food began to glow. A few seconds later, he sighed and the light flashed, revealing a small pile of garlic bread, a little pyramid made of mozzarella sticks and a strawberry shake, complete with spoon and straw. He grabbed the dishes and set them in front of her on the table with a smile. "Eat up."

Lucy immediately bit into a piece of garlic bread with a scrutinizing expression. "Is this why your food always seems to come out so quickly?"

"Nope, just good staffing," he said and took the seat across from her. His smile faded as she continued to study him. "Where do you want me to start?"

"With the angel bit. Why do I have a guardian angel? How do I have a contract with you that I don't know about when I had to make one with Natsu, and who's all in the Zodiac? When you said you were the strongest, were you referring to yourself, or the group as a whole?

"Why does it sound like the king has an interest in my family and what are the terms of the contract my family supposedly made, and which family member made it? Did you lie about being my friend so you wouldn't have to tell me about your position as my guardian angel, and if so, why are you telling me now? If you-"

He cut her off. "Lucy, you'll need to give me time to talk if you want the answers to all those questions. And for the record," he said, his eyes fierce, "I did not lie about being your friend. I _am_ your friend, recent actions aside. Keeping our identity, and your importance in the matters between all of the realms, secret was the first condition on the contract the Heartfilia queen created with us. I had to find a way into your life, yes, but being your friend was not a lie. I need you to believe that. Please."

Lucy watched him as she ate, taking in his words and his expression. She nodded slowly as he finished, and said, "I believe you. I'm not happy about the lies, but I do believe that you care about me the way a friend should."

Loke's shoulders slumped and he let out a breath as his head fell forward. "Thank the gods. I thought for sure I would have to do more to convince you."

"I'm still mad at you, and it will take some time for me to forgive you, if I ever do, but I believe that you care about me. I don't think you would have stopped me earlier if you didn't. You were protecting me as much as yourself, and I appreciate that."

Loke nodded and then leaned back in his chair, his smile a little more engaging. "So, you want me to start with the angel thing, correct?"

"Yes."

For the next few hours, Loke talked and talked and talked, pausing only when Lucy asked more questions. He told her about the prophecy, the Zodiac's role in protecting her family line, her family's importance in maintaining the separation of the realms, the flaw that had brought Natsu into her life, the steps they took to make sure she could find her 'natural end,' as foretold in the prophecy, and his decision to ignore the king's orders and tell her about everything since he'd been unable to erase Natsu in the first place.

"So your boss is going to be mad?"

Loke gave her a half smile. "He already is. For the time being, I'm still your guardian angel, but I suspect he is already in the process of choosing someone else to take over for me. Ignoring his orders is tantamount to betraying the entire realm, and I will more than likely be severely punished once he has figured out how to respond. For the moment, I'm saved by the fact that he is busy trying to fix things so that you can slip back under the radar and be safe again."

Lucy nodded, her dishes gone and replaced by a cup of tea that Loke kept warming on occasion with his magic. "So Happy was right, then? I'm really Natsu's mate?"

Loke nodded. "Once I figured out he had bonded to you, that part of the prophecy made more sense. One and two making a couple wasn't just bad math. You are the one, being a human, and he's the two, having both demon and dragon blood.

"Unfortunately, with bonded dragons being as they are, we couldn't allow him to stay with you. Once you two bonded- and if the stories are to be believed, a bonded dragon cannot go long without performing the ritual- it would break the prophecy. You would not be able to find a natural end, and the realms would falter and rejoin, no matter what we did it to try and stop it.

"If that happens, it'll be the end of everything your ancestor sacrificed her life for. She wanted the realms to become whole again once the races could get along, but that just isn't going to happen anytime soon, if ever. If the realms are allowed to rejoin, the demons would run rampant and destroy everything they could get their hands on and kill anyone in their way. Some of the races would be okay for a while, like the dwarves in their mountains, but others, like the humans, would likely be wiped out right away. With no magic to defend yourselves, they would eat you alive and burn the remains as they moved on to the next realm.

"We just can't let that happen," he said, his expression fierce. "It is the duty of the Zodiac to protect the Heartfilia line, to preserve that bond that keeps the realms separated, until it becomes permanent with your death. Which sounds morbid and terrifying, I know, but the whole point is that you live out your life and die naturally.

"If we fail at protecting you, either by letting Natsu bond to you and making a natural end impossible, or by allowing Zalanoon and his ilk to use your blood to make the other end of the prophecy come true, we can never make that right again."

"Couldn't you just use someone else to cast the spell?"

"No." He shook his head, his face grim. "The spell requires someone who cares for all the races equally. Those that still remember the other races after all this time hate the others, or are at best indifferent. Even when they all knew about each other, your ancestor was the _only person in the entire origin_ who was able to cast that spell.

"It was a one time thing, Lucy. It can't be redone. Either we protect you until you die, old and gray, or it'll be the end of the realms as we know them."

"Not that I don't appreciate that you're there to protect me," Lucy said, "but you're telling me that a prophecy, something convoluted that someone said at some point in the distant past that can be interpreted any number of ways, is keeping me from not only being with someone I love, but stopping me from possibly living forever? And I'm just supposed to follow along like a good little girl and not say anything?"

"Lucy, I'm telling you to try and help you understand. Remember, I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut."

"Then perhaps you should have done that," Lucy said getting to her feet and moving to the sink to clean out her cup.

"Lucy, I tried-"

"You didn't try hard enough." She put the cup down with a little more force than she intended, the clang echoing around the room. "Knowing doesn't make this any easier. In fact, it might be more difficult to accept now."

"Lucy-"

"You are keeping me away from Natsu." She gripped the edge of the counter so tightly her knuckles protested. "You have no idea what he's done for me in the last few weeks."

"I probably don't, but I'd rather not hear the gory details if you don't mind."

She turned around and glared at him. "He's helped me, Loke. He's fixed what I thought could never be fixed."

Loke frowned as he studied her. She was on the verge of tears again, but he could tell it was something besides Natsu that brought them to her eyes. She was staring off into space, with a look he'd rarely seen in her eyes. Not unless someone had brought up…

"Lucy, what are you talking about?"

She had to try a few times before the words would come. "Do you remember… my last boyfriend? The one that… the one that the girls never say the name of?"

He nodded. "I'd always wondered, but I didn't think it was my business to dig into it."

Lucy nodded and had to try hard to speak once more. Loke needed to know. For all he was doing to protect the realms, he needed to understand what she had lost by him taking Natsu from her.

"I found out later that he wasn't really interested in me. It was a rouse to keep an eye on me for… for my father." Loke opened his mouth to speak, but the words died in his throat as she continued.

"He was part of a gang that my father eventually hired to kidnap me, but instead, they held me captive and tried to get more money out of him."

She turned around and stared hard at the little crystal dragon on the table, using it to bolster her courage enough to continue.

"They did things to me that… made it hard for me to trust men again. That gave me nightmares. Until…" Her voice broke and she could only whisper the last words. "Until Natsu…"

* * *

**This took an unexpected turn, and when I followed it, I found the perfect place to finally bring this up again and explain. Did you guys forget about the nightmares? Did you wonder what happened? Well answers are finally coming.**


	70. Chapter 70

**This mama is so mentally shot that writing has been hard to do. Between a son who doesn't like to sleep through the night and the wiggling of our soon to be born bundle, I have been having trouble sleeping. I have managed some ZZZ's the last couple nights and fought tooth and nail to get this put together for you, though, so here it is!**

**TRIGGER WARNING:** **There is some abuse in here, nothing too explicit, but please be careful if that is something you worry about reading.**

**ABT4Life: I have not, but I have a friend and SIN who both rave about it, so it is on my ever expanding list of books to read in the future.**

**Savwafair: I know it feels a little overdone to have a guy 'heal' the heroine and make her trust again, but the way you predicted it is not quite the way it works out. Lucy had made substantial progress on her own. I have some similar experiences, and I used that to help me with that part of her story. She was not raped, but she was used. It's mentioned a few times how hard Loke had to work at being her friend, and that was the part that I was using to hint at it. I hope this part will clear up the rest. ALSO, I like your Flynn Rider prediction, but you're not quite there yet.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Loke's fists clenched but it was the only outward sign that he had heard Lucy's words. She was still staring at Natsu's gift so she didn't seem to notice, especially through the tears in her eyes.

For his own sake, when he'd confronted them after they'd freaked Lucy out at his restaurant, he had kept from looking through their memories for what they'd done to her. He'd asked enough questions to figure out just how terrible they were before he taught them a lesson, wiped their memories of her and sent them on their way. He didn't care if their former gang came after them; as far as they were concerned, they were upstanding members of society who volunteered and spent time cutting grass for the elderly on Sundays.

He had known they did something terrible to her. Lucy was too strong to be taken down with words alone, but even hearing that one little statement to confirm their effect on her…

Before his imagination could run away with him, Loke stood to grab himself a cup of tea. "Why don't you sit before you tell me."

Lucy jerked as he spoke. She hadn't seen him stand, let alone come over to the counter next to her. When his words finally registered, she sighed and nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

When they were both seated at the table, Lucy set her cup aside in favor of holding the dragon. Loke watched her, certain he'd never seen the little dragon before. It obviously meant a lot to her, so he decided to try and use it to help get her talking. "Where is that from? I've never seen it before."

Lucy's hands tightened around it a little. "Natsu gave it to me." She looked at him in warning. "You're not allowed to take this, too. I will fight you tooth and nail if you try."

He leaned back, his hands raised. "I wasn't going to take it. It was part of my task to clean up your apartment of anything that might remind you of him. If I missed it, that's my fault, but it wouldn't do any good to take it away now."

"It wasn't here, it was at work." When he didn't say anything, she looked up and saw him squinting at the figure, his lips drawn in a line. She caught the flash of anger in his eyes before he looked up again.

"Guess I didn't think to look there," he said, and the smile he gave her didn't quite reach his eyes. "Are you ready to talk now? You still don't have to, you know. It doesn't affect my ability to do my job, so you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want to," she said as firmly as she could. "I want you to understand."

"Understand what?" he asked.

She looked down at the little dragon again, avoiding his eyes. She'd never talked about it, _ever_, with anyone. She'd never told her father, she'd never told her friends, and she didn't count the letters she'd written to her mother. Those had eventually been burned, to make sure they were never read by anyone they shouldn't.

"Loke, do you… know how to read people? Like Natsu could?"

"Not quite." He took a sip of his tea. "Angels and demons can do a lot of the same magic, but we're better at different things. Demons specialize in the more manipulative magics, while angels are stronger with defensive spells, since our role is to protect. I do know how to read, but I can only read the conscious thoughts, where demons can access memories and feelings."

"So you _could_ see those memories, if I thought about them?"

Loke looked uncomfortable but he nodded. "I could, yes."

Lucy swallowed audibly before saying, "I'd like to do it that way."

* * *

Zeref sighed as he ran his hands over his face. "I don't understand."

"He's destroying everything," Midnight said again. "One of the servants sent word that he keeps trying to go passed the bounds of the realm, and when he's pushed back, his anger increases. He's already destroyed everything but the castle and they're worried that won't stay standing much longer either."

The king stood up and went to look out the window. "In that realm's time, he's only been there a couple hours. He's proving to be more problematic than I thought." After a moment, he sighed. "Go speak with the butler. I'll bring the staff back here. I'd rather Natsu get his aggression out of his system without too much collateral damage. The staff out there have only just figured out how I like them to work while I'm around. I'd rather not have to start all over with a fresh batch."

"You got it."

When Midnight had left, Zeref glanced over at the calendar on the wall. He only need a few more days.

A few more days and he'd be able to have the heir returned to his realm and their plan could be put into action.

* * *

Loke looked around and found himself inside of a bakery. He knew he was looking through Lucy's eyes, but it always took a moment for him to get the feel of being in someone else's memories that way.

_Lucy was just leaving a bakery when she bumped into someone. The collision caused her to drop her treat, but luckily not her laptop._

"_I am so sorry!" she said as she looked up at the man._

"_It's not a problem," the man said with a warm smile. He leaned down and picked up her bag. "It was my fault for getting distracted."_

_She smiled as she took the bag from him. "Distractions at their finest I suppose."_

"_And this one is particularly beautiful."_

_Lucy looked up and found him smiling down at her. When his meaning finally registered, she grew flustered. "Oh, I don't know about all that."_

"_I do," he said as he studied her. "I know beauty when I see it." With a chuckle, he moved out of her way. "I'm afraid it gets me into trouble often when I try to admire beautiful things while performing other tasks. It is worth it, however, with someone like you. You are a beauty I could spend many hours appreciating."_

"_Thank you," Lucy said as her cheeks heated._

_He stuck out his hand. "The name's Rusty."_

"_Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm Lucy."_

Everything around Loke morphed for a moment, and then he was sitting across from the man at a table. There were no words, just feelings of being pampered and spoiled, and enjoying the unswerving attention from a good looking man.

This persisted through several visions, from picnics to movies, to a few dark memories that Lucy rushed through. Loke felt skin on skin and little satisfaction, but he couldn't say if it was a physical or emotional response. When the picture was clear again, he was walking with Rusty along the street on the opposite side of town from where Lucy currently lived.

"_Are you sure?" Rusty asked. "I don't want to take you away if you're busy."_

"_I think it will be fun," Lucy said as she smiled up at him. "I've never been away for a trip before. Where are we going? The girls will ask."_

"_It's a surprise," he said, his eyes gleaming. "I hope you'll like it."_

_She squeezed his hand and rose up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I'm sure I'll love anything you plan for me."_

Once more the memory changed and Loke felt fear eclipse all other emotions as he looked around the shadowed room.

_Rough palms squeezed her shins as her foot was strapped down to the table she was on. Someone heavy was sitting on top of her, holding her body and arms still as manacles were attached to her wrists. The cold metal bit into her skin when she tried to pull away, but she couldn't move far. Her throat, sore from trying to scream earlier, ached as she cried, begged in a hoarse voice to be released. She saw three people moving around her through the hood over her head, but none of them responded to her as they worked to retrain her. _

_Suddenly, she was yanked down the table, pulling her arms taunt above her head. They stopped when her butt hit her heels and the person above her secured a strap around her hips, holding her still. _

_She fought, as much as could, but there was nowhere for her to go. One of the people, a man she was sure, was giggling to himself. Once they had finished, the person above her checked her restraints once more before getting off her._

"_That should do," he said in a deep voice. "The boss said to keep her here until he tells us it's time to release her."_

"Finally_," another man said. He giggled as he moved forward and ripped the front of her button down, exposing her skin to the cold air._

"_What are you doing?" a woman's voice asked as the man was pushed away._

"_What does it look like?" he snapped. _

"_The boss said she was to be left alone," the first man said again._

"_What?! Oh come on, you can't tell me we strapped her to _this _table and I can't have a little fun?"_

"_Hades said hands off, except to feed her."_

_The second man argued for a while, but he finally gave up. "I guess we'll see," he growled as he left, slamming a door somewhere._

Loke was growling as the memory faded. If he had laid even _one_ _finger_ on Lucy again, he was going to find him and kill him.

Lucy seemed to get lost for a while, or maybe the memories from that room were just too similar. Loke heard dripping, probably from faucet, throughout the entire series. Hands, rough and soft, touched her, some more roughly than others. There was one set in particular that he could sense, always taunting and threatening.

He could sense Lucy's terror that he would violate her, despite his comrades warnings. A few times they moved forward to stop him, but towards the end, he could tell they had stopped caring. He had the feeling they had given up trying and were leaving his punishment to their boss if he followed through, but in the meantime didn't care to try and stop him.

Lucy's fear was worse then. Despite the taunts, she had felt some measure of safety with his comrades around, but at the end of her stay, she was rife with uneasiness and terror whenever he entered the room.

_Despite the woman having rebuttoned her shirt with the few remaining buttons, Lucy felt unclean whenever he entered the room. Zancrow, she'd eventually figured out, was the one who scared her the most. The rest seemed to listen to their boss's orders, but he didn't care. He'd spent one of his visits telling her about the things he'd done at this table with others that had been there before her. She'd tried to drown out the images, but he'd been relentless with his stories, going into elaborate detail._

_He was annoyed they'd put her on that table but were restraining him from the usual activities. Apparently the other table had been occupied, so they were forced to adapt._

_There was one man who didn't say anything when he was in the room, and he never came near. Lucy wondered why, but never asked. As far as she knew, he was worse than Zancrow and by talking to him, she would be inviting something even worse on herself._

The light in the room changed, and Loke knew there was something different about this memory.

_Lucy's hood had been removed that morning and a woman had tried to wash up her face and hair. She'd fought, of course, but the woman had managed to talk her down when she'd told her that she was being released. The woman had washed her arms, hands and feet, too, trying to make her presentable Lucy guessed._

_Even somewhat clean, Lucy had been skeptical, especially when Zancrow had entered the room some time later, alone._

"_Well you're looking better," he said as he approached her. Lucy wished she could move to avoid his touch, but it was impossible with the restraints. Not only that, being strapped down as she had, her joints and muscles were so sore and stiff, she wasn't sure she could have moved even if she wanted to._

_He ran his hand up and down her leg as he leaned over her. "You know, you're much prettier than I thought you'd be after being stuck down here so long." He frowned, his eyes flashing with a crazed light as he studied her face. "It's not fair that they're keeping me from using this table to its fullest potential."_

_Lucy's heart began to beat frantically in her chest. She was all alone, with none of her other captors around. Even if they'd given up trying to stop him from touching her, their presence seemed to have been enough to keep him from taking things too far. _

_He'd hit her, pinched her, pulled on her hair, had even threatened to cut her once, but after hearing their 'boss's' order not to violate her, she'd felt reasonably assured he wouldn't. _

_Now that she could see him, though, she was glad she hadn't seen him sooner. The look in his eyes was wild, barely contained, and she could easily see him ignoring his orders to not touch her. Now that she'd seen him, she was even more surprised he hadn't._

"_You know what?" He ran his hands up and down her shins as he stared at her, waiting for an answer. When she didn't say anything, he dug his fingers into her calves, making her gasp. "I asked a question. It's rude to ignore people, didn't your daddy ever teach you that?"_

_Tears filled her eyes, and she continued to hold her tongue. She didn't know what words would set him off, so she was willing to risk some pain in return for not saying the wrong thing._

_He narrowed his eyes at her. "I knew it," he said, disgusted. "We've been too nice to you."_

_The bruises on Lucy's body begged to differ but she didn't say anything as he tugged on her jeans. "You know what? You're going back today anyway, so there's no point in babying you so much anymore, is there? I think you need a healthy dose of fear before you leave. You know," he said, his grin widening. "So you know better than to disobey your father again."_

_Lucy's stomach sank. Her _father _had arranged for this? He had gotten so upset with her refusing to come home that he had her_ abducted _and _beaten_? _

"_What are you talking about?" she asked, speaking for the first time in days._

"_Zancrow, you're needed upstairs."_

_Lucy paled when she heard those words. She knew that voice._

_Her eyes slammed closed. _

_No. No, she refused to believe she'd been tricked by him, too._

"_Aw, come one," Zancrow whined. "I just wanted a little taste of what she has to offer! You seemed to be enjoying yourself-"_

"_You're needed upstairs. I can take over watching Lucy."_

_Zancrow whined a while longer, but Lucy didn't hear the words. She was too busy trying to breathe around the pain of her heart being shattered._

_Rusty… _

_All this time, he'd just been using her, probably sent to keep an eye on her._

_She should have known._

_She'd liked him, loved him even. She'd given him everything she had and he'd _used her. _How could he? How could he have spent so long pretending to care about her and then subject her to these people?_

_When she opened her eyes, Rusty was leaning against the wall where she could see him. His hair was different and she suddenly realized that he was the one she'd seen through the hood that never spoke. He'd been there, every time Zancrow had hit her, every time Azuma had mocked her, and he'd said nothing… _

"_Why?" she asked._

_He smiled at her, as though they were doing nothing more than having lunch. "Don't take it personally. I told you, I enjoy beauty. When we were given the job, it was only natural that I would ask to be the one to keep an eye on you."_

_Tears fell in streams from Lucy's eyes, making it hard to see him. "Why did you… have to do what you did? Why not just be my friend?"_

"_And give up the chance to be with a beauty like you? That would have been a waste." He frowned a little. "They say beauty is fleeting, so you have to enjoy it while you can. I can understand that. You're not nearly as pretty when you cry._

"_Although, Zancrow was right about one thing." His smile grew cold. "It is a waste to not use this table for its intended purpose."_

Loke pushed himself away, abruptly breaking his connection with Lucy. She fell forward a little as his hands stopped supporting her head, but she caught herself.

"I can't," Loke said, his anger causing him to glow. "I can't watch anymore."

Lucy watched him pace, fascinated by the light coming off of him, as she spoke. "He didn't rape me, Loke. The woman came downstairs and sent him away while she helped me get up so they could take me to my father. It turned out they had been sent to keep an eye on my and then retrieve me, but they figured out who I really was after they captured me and demanded more money from my father in exchange for my return."

She laughed humorlessly. "My father didn't even realize he was dealing with a gang when he hired them."

"But Magnolia doesn't have any gangs," Loke argued.

"They're not from Magnolia. I don't know where he found them, but they didn't live here. If they had, I would have moved as soon as I got away.

"I thought about it a lot, but…" She looked out the window, that little dragon still firmly in her grasp. "Even though I couldn't tell the girls what happened, I needed them to get better. I needed them around. I wouldn't have been able to be okay otherwise. I had to stay. This is where my home is. This is where my friends are." She looked up at him. "This is where I belong.

"Besides, after what happened, once I was better anyway, I went and confronted my father and he agreed to leave me alone. He tried to blame me at first, but eventually had to accept that he had been the one to put me in danger. I was getting by on my own and he was forced to accept that I was alright and he had to leave me be."

Loke continued to pace, his heart breaking for her. He should have killed them. Had he known all he knew now, he's not sure he would have allowed them to leave his restaurant. They'd harmed his charge. The thought was deplorable.

"But it's okay now." Lucy smiled at the little dragon. "Natsu took care of them."

He stopped moving. His feet just sputtered to a stop on their own, nearly causing him to fall over. "What do you mean?"

"I know he called you," she said. "I know you were trying to help him find them. He was weird after I came home, until after our trip to Aspen, and I know he was sleeping with me to try and ward off the nightmares, although I don't know how he knew I was going to have them.

"Shortly after we got back, he went back to his normal goofy self and I knew he'd taken care of the men I saw at your restaurant. I'm glad you helped him," she said as she looked up at him and smiled. "I don't know what he did, or how you figured out who they were, but I'm better knowing that they were punished in some way. Thank you, Loke."

He wanted to correct her. He wanted to use the truth to help put him back in her good graces. He wanted to tell her that _he_ was the one that had punished them and that they no longer remembered anything about her, outside of the intense terror they would feel if they were to ever run into her again.

He was her protector, not Natsu.

He had taken care of the problem, not Natsu.

"You're welcome," he said instead.

He had messed up, a lot. Even if he'd had no choice, he wasn't going to ruin this for her. If it made her feel even a little bit better, he would allow Natsu to keep the credit.

And he understood now why he'd had so much trouble getting into her good graces when he'd met her. His mannerisms must have reminded her of Rusty. That she was able to be so civil with him, even now, was a miracle. She was even stronger than he gave her credit for. She'd hid it so well, dealt with it so well, that he hadn't even suspected. He should be ashamed for not figuring it out sooner.

He was more upset that he had to accept that Natsu _had_ been good for her. He was too honest and had no poker face, not to mention he never lied. Lucy would have had no problem trusting him, even if he was a demon. Natsu was a rare breed, and Loke had to believe that his unique personality had been what allowed Lucy to loosen up as much as she had in the last couple months.

It was probably because of him that she'd even considered dating Taurus. One of the reasons he hadn't taken Taurus' plan seriously had been because he'd never known Lucy to date anyone, so he hadn't even entertained the thought that it would work. Even though a guardian angel's presence was naturally soothing and caused humans to trust them with little thought, Lucy had been different. How had he not been able to figure out why that was?

Lucy stood and came to hug him, the tears following shortly after as she remained in his embrace. "I trusted him, Loke. He was different, and not just because he wasn't human. He was honest. He was… he cared about me, in a way no one else ever has.

"I… I relied on him. He helped me come back out of my shell so I can make other friends. And try dating…"

She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her face into his shoulder. "But I can't see him again, can I?"

Loke had to swallow several times to clear his throat.

He didn't want to answer her. He didn't want to watch her break. He didn't want to cause that. He didn't want to be the reason for her tears.

Eventually, though, he had to speak.

"No," he whispered. "You can't."


	71. Chapter 71

**ReaytheEagle: I have been there. I have SO been there. However, don't fail anything for this story. I can assure you, it is not worth it. It'll be here once you've passed your tests. Promise.**

**As for you others, I am feeling the love, and in return, I love all of you. You guys make writing this story so much more rewarding that I ever thought it could be.**

**Still, read responsibly!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Lucy, over here!"

As Cana called out over the noise of the club, Lucy turned and headed towards the table in the back of the room. As she worked her way through the crowd, she saw Juvia and Levy both out on the dance floor. By the way they were moving, Lucy suspected they were on at least their second drink.

"About time you got here, lady. What took so long?"

"I was just finishing up some cleaning."

Cana groaned. "Your place is the cleanest thing I've seen outside of Loke's kitchen. I don't know what kind of cleaning you were doing, but I doubt it was more important that coming out here with us."

Lucy merely smiled and ordered a drink from the waiter as he dropped off Cana's beer. When he had left, she turned back towards her friend. "So? What's the occasion? We were just at FairyTail last night, why are we out again?"

"Do we need a reason?" Cana asked as she down half of her beer. "We wanted to dance, so we're here to dance."

"We danced last night," Lucy reminded her, "and you're not dancing."

"I already did."

Lucy grinned. "Liar. Your hair is still perfect, your ears aren't red, and you're not missing any clothes yet."

Cana squinted at her. "How would you know?"

"I helped you coordinate that outfit, accessories and all, and you're not missing a single piece."

The brunette scoffed, but there was a smile on her face as she lifted her drink again. "You know me too well."

"Is that even possible?" Lucy asked as she took her drink from the waiter, and laughed to herself when he stared wide eyed as Cana ordered another. When he had left, Lucy leaned forward and got serious. "Seriously, what is this about?"

Cana sighed. "I can't tell you until the other two join us. It was their idea. I only agreed to come along to make sure they're not too tough on you."

"Tough on me about what?"

The brunette shook her head. "I'm not saying anything else. This isn't my circus, my rodeo, my anything. Ask them."

Lucy sighed as she sought the other two in the crowd. She had a feeling they were going to confront her about how much she'd been hiding in her home the last week, but she couldn't exactly tell them why she'd been so anti-social.

Losing Natsu had been devastating, and she was trying to piece herself back together with only Loke's help. Although, Maverick and Oakley had been over more than usual as well. They tried to pretend they were just being friendly, but she suspected they knew she was upset and they were trying to keep her company to help make her feel better.

Loke had spent practically every spare moment at her place the last week. He'd even insisted on staying at night, to help make sure she wasn't plagued with nightmares. Thankfully, she'd avoided them so far, and she suspected they would stay away for a good long while. Having Natsu's gift made things easier. She never went anywhere without it, even in her home. If she was in her kitchen, it was on the table. If she was at work, it was next to her monitor. If she was in her room, it was next to her bed.

The hair on the back of Lucy's neck stood up and she got a strange feeling that she was being watched. She checked Juvia and Levy, but neither were looking her way. She scanned the crowd and eventually saw Aries sitting at the end of the bar. She smiled at Lucy and gave her a small wave, which Lucy returned.

It figured Loke would have someone watching her when he couldn't. She had been on edge ever since he told her why he was protecting her. Since their talk, he hadn't mentioned anything about being replaced again, so she was trying to be optimistic. She hoped his boss didn't decide to replace him with someone else. He was her friend, and she'd hate to lose him now. As she wondered if she could have any say about him staying with her with his king, she got so distracted she didn't see the other two come back to the table.

"Lucy! We're glad you could make it!"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at Levy. "Come off it, Lev, I know you only wanted me here to have an intervention."

Both she and Juvia glared at Cana, but the brunette merely snorted. "I said nothing, she figured it out on her own."

"It is _not_ an intervention," Levy argued.

"We're just worried about you," Juvia added.

"And you've gathered here for my own good, yeah yeah, I know." Lucy leaned against the table. "Come on then, out with it. What are you guys so worried about."

"You've been avoiding us," Levy said.

"Not avoiding, just staying home," Lucy corrected.

"We know you're upset about something," Juvia said, looking a little ashamed. "Juvia saw you crying in your kitchen when she went to see you earlier in the week."

"And we know you've been spending a lot of time with Loke." Levy put her hands on her hips. "What on earth could you possibly be upset about that can be solved better by him than us? We're your best friends!"

"He's my best friend, too," Lucy argued.

"But it's _different_," Levy insisted. "We've known you a lot longer."

Lucy had been trying to find a way for days to explain her predicament without having to lie too much to her friends, and had yet to come up with a suitable story.

As far as they remembered, she'd had a friend kind of staying at her place, but mostly traveling and using her home as a place to store a few things. She'd gone on a couple trips with them, but they'd never met the person and couldn't remember if it had been a guy or girl.

"Is this still about that person that stayed with you that you never let us meet?" Juvia asked.

Lucy wondered how much she could use of the truth to fabricate enough story to placate her friends. "A little, I guess."

Levy leaned forward, her gaze sharp and serious. "Tell us the truth, Lu, were you dating him?"

Surprised, Lucy leaned back. "What?"

"Wasn't it a girl that was staying with her?" Cana questioned.

"I don't know, because Lu never let us meet them." Levy practically climbed on the table so she could lean as close as possible to study Lucy. "You've been crying and avoiding people, and you've been sad ever since you returned from your last trip. Did he hurt you? Were you dating the person staying with you and he broke it off? Do we need to go hurt him?

"The last time you were like this was after _him._"

Lucy was only a little surprised that Levy had managed to put most of the story together. Luckily for her, it was also close enough to the truth that she could spin it as the real story. "Yes," Lucy said, letting her voice break a little.

Juvia grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Oh Lucy… I'm so sorry."

"Sorry my fanny," Cana said as she sat forward.

"You were _dating_ someone and never told us?!" Levy yelled.

"Seriously guys." Lucy tried to wave it off. "It's not that big a deal, calm down."

Levy slapped her hands on the table. "I will not calm down. You hid a boyfriend from us!"

"I didn't hide-"

"Lying by omission is still lying," Cana said. "You've used that one often enough on us. Why didn't you tell us about him?"

"Why are you saying it's not a big deal when it clearly was?" Levy demanded.

"Because I'm trying to pretend that it wasn't," Lucy snapped. "He left. He's not coming back. I have to move on."

"Perhaps we should give Lucy the chance to explain," Juvia said. "She must have had a reason for keeping all of this from us. Let's hear her out."

"You're right," Cana sighed. "And here I came to make sure you two didn't bombard her with questions."

"I am sorry," Lucy said. "It's just… it's complicated. I thought it would be better this way."

"It's just so unlike you," Levy said with a frown. "And I still don't understand how Loke would be able to help you more than us."

"He- he kind of knows him. I found out after a while that they'd kind of met before, so it's easier to talk to him about what's been happening. You guys never met him-"

"Who's fault is that?" they all asked simultaneously.

"-so it's been easier to talk to him."

They grumbled a little, but eventually agreed. For the next half hour, Lucy did her best to tell them as much of the truth as she could. All the while, that feeling of being watched continued to grow. She glanced at Aries occasionally and always found the angel casually watching while speaking to a man sitting next to her. Lucy wondered why she didn't feel so hunted while Loke was watching.

When she'd finally made it through her story, the girls had finished being angry and were as sympathetic as they'd ever been. They encouraged her to dance, drink, and even talked about her moving on since he "clearly didn't deserve her, if he'd given up someone so wonderful."

Lucy did her best to move passed those comments. She couldn't judge them, and appreciated that they were being so supportive. Even if they didn't and couldn't ever understand just what she was going through, she knew just by being there for her they were helping.

It was hours later, when they were leaving the club, that they all decided it was time for an impromptu sleepover. Once they were assured Lucy could get home on her own, they all went their separate ways so they could go to their respective homes and get a change of clothes.

As Lucy began her own walk, she realized she felt quite a bit better after talking to them. Loke knew the whole story, sure, but the support of your best girlfriends was just better when it came to healing broken hearts.

Not to mention she was still a little angry with him for his role in forcing Natsu out of her life.

Even still, she found herself smiling as she headed towards her home.

She had a few things to get ready before the girls arrived.

* * *

_Go now…_

The shadows quivered and then a large portion detached and headed for the target.

Now that it was night, there was nowhere he couldn't go.

His prey didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Leo landed gracefully on his feet and looked around. The city was just as he remembered it, even though he had not visited in a few decades. There was more foot traffic, but that was to be expected when the demons worked to make their way up into the nicer realms.

The building he was in front of hadn't changed a bit though. With a little smile, he headed inside, ignoring the looks and jeers sent his way.

Most demons didn't like angels, and his kind were liked least of all, since contracts with guardian angels meant the pool for them was a little smaller. Only by a fraction, of course, but the demons still took it personally.

Once he entered the building, he didn't even stop to speak with the demons at the front desk. He climbed the stairs to the top floor and headed for the farthest office from the front door. It had been some time since he'd been there, but he knew where he'd find the enforcer of demon contracts.

He stopped outside the door to gather his thoughts before knocking on the cool stone.

"Enter," came the voice from within.

Leo went into the room and close the door before turning to face the desk.

Erza hadn't looked up. She continued to scan the papers in front of her, occasionally making notes with the red pen in her hand. "What is it?" she asked.

"I was hoping to have a word," Leo said, taking a few steps forward.

Erza looked up, surprised. "I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here?"

"I had a couple questions, and it seemed like a better idea to just come to you and ask them."

The demon nodded. "I appreciate you trying to be forward. What questions do you have?"

"It's about Lucy," he said.

"The contract was completely cancelled and the paperwork banning Natsu from the human realm for the foreseeable future has been completed. You have nothing to worry about from our end concerning the Heartfilia heir."

Leo's eyebrow rose. "Is that so?"

"Yes, I saw to it myself." Erza gave him a similar look. "Was there anything else?"

"Well, I didn't come to ask about that, but I am glad that it's been taken care of."

"Then why are you here?"

"I was actually curious about Lucy specifically, not her contract with Natsu or his ban."

"Oh." Erza returned to her paperwork. "Well I know very little about Lucy, so I don't know what you think I can help you with."

"When we left Lucy' place, I went to find our friends and you were supposed to go check her office."

"Correct."

"And after clearing her office, you were supposed to return here."

"Also correct."

Loke crossed his arms as he focused on the demon, determined to catch every nuance of her reaction to his words. "So why is it that a gift of Natsu's was overlooked in her office?"

"As I said, you know Lucy better than I." Erza looked up at him. "If I missed something, it is because he hadn't interacted with it recently enough for me to know he'd been involved in its acquisition." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "I hope you are not trying to imply that I might have left it on purpose?"

"I was merely asking how it managed to slip under the radar."

Erza looked down again. "I apologize for missing it, but one little thing isn't going to mess with your job. She may wonder where she got it, but humans have short memories. She will either keep it because it is pretty or dispose of it in some way. It hardly seems like something you need to worry about."

"That by itself doesn't, no, but combined with Lucy somehow managing to shake my memory wipe has made my job very difficult in the last week."

Erza's pen stopped moving. After a few moments, she looked up, her face blank. "It sounds to me like you must have messed up somehow, since you were the one who wiped her. _Insisted_ on being the one to wipe her."

"When I left, she didn't remember. I checked my work." Leo raised an eyebrow once more. "Tell me, where did you go after you conveniently didn't grab the dragon from her office?"

Erza's gaze darkened, but Leo barely noticed as alarm bells sounded in his head. He froze as he tried to pinpoint the problem.

The demon shot to her feet, alarm breaking through her anger. When their eyes met, they spoke at the same time.

"Lucy's in trouble."

* * *

**So I **_**could **_**spread this out a bit. I had a few ideas for some things Lucy could do with her friends, a few hang out sessions with Maverick and Oakely, and even Loke taking her out for a friend date, but with there being less than two months until I'll be too tired to know my own name, I've decided that this is the best course of action. I may write those scenes later as an add on, but for now, I'd like to keep the story rolling, so my apologies if this feels too fast for anyone. It feels that way to me too, but I'm still determined to get this done before our little one gets here.**


	72. Chapter 72

**I will more than likely have at least one more chapter before Thanksgiving, so I'll wait for my holiday greetings until then. For now SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Keep your heads when you're out Black Thursday? Friday shopping kids. The people that are working the holiday don't want to be, so try to be extra courteous. They're just trying to do their job. They have no control over coupons, deals, stock, or anything else, so try to be patient. You're choosing to be there, they HAVE to be there. I've worked my fair share of Black Fridays, and I can tell you, I would have rather been eating with my family every time. So do Mama a favor and be nice.**

**Gleamqueen: Loke mentions the dragon first, but he's just leading up to the reveal that Lucy still remembers Natsu. He says that the two together (the dragon and her remembering) has made his job difficult, not that the dragon caused her to remember. Hope that helps!  
CathJorda: The dragon is actually a little figurine, not a necklace. As I said above this to gleamqueen, Loke only says the two together have made his job difficult, not that the dragon caused Lucy to remember. And after he erased Natsu, but before he left Lucy alone, he checked to make sure he'd buried the memories appropriately and was certain that he had. It will come up again later, and you will eventually learn how Lucy still remembers, so I don't want to confirm or deny your guesses just yet. And I apologize for the cliffhangers (kind of) but I'm a cliffhanger slut. I use them everywhere, so hopefully you're heart can make it through the rest until the end of the story.**

**UnitedOsprey1991: Your comment is almost word for word what I put in my notes, lol.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Leo appeared in Lucy's kitchen moments after Erza. "What do you mean, Lucy's in trouble?" The demon's words had shocked him, causing him to teleport slower than he'd intended.

"I left my own runes when I was here last to keep an eye on her."

The angel frowned as he connected with his protection spells, sorting through to find out what had happened. "Why would you do that?"

Erza didn't respond as she checked her own work by placing her hand on the wall. Runes began to glow in response to her touch. "It was a demon. He caught her while she was on her way here."

Leo could sense the same. "Damn it. I thought Aries was watching her tonight." He called out for the other angel, but got no response. "I have a bad feeling."

"I can't tell who the demon is and that's very unusual." Erza pressed her hand harder into the wall. "Wait… no, that's a decoy. He was trying to hide his identity." A hiss escaped her mouth. "It's that damn Midnight again."

"Who?"

"A demon Natsu had a scuffle with a few months ago. He's a nightmare demon so he shouldn't even be able to get into this world." When Erza removed her hand from the wall, she frowned at the dent she'd left behind. "I returned him after Natsu called me, and I spoke with the king. He said he would look into it."

Leo got a strange feeling in his gut. "Isn't the nightmare demon king Natsu's brother?"

Erza fixed the wall before turning his way again. "He is, although many don't know it. Natsu's mother has always been speculated about, but never widely confirmed, so the brothers' relationship has always been kept quiet."

"Do you think Zeref was involved?"

"Absolutely not," she said with certainty. "I spoke with him after our meeting with the kings, and he was adamant about not allowing the realms to rejoin."

"Are you sure he wasn't lying?" Leo asked.

Erza's face darkened. "Even the kings would not dare lie to me."

"So that's a maybe?"

With another hiss Erza turned away. "At any rate, we need to retrieve her. If it was Midnight, my guess is that she is in the lowest realm with the other nightmare demons. I can't imagine any of them having the power to get out on their own, or even come up with a plan to use Lucy, so there must be someone else in charge. However, between the two of us, I think we should be able to retrieve her fairly easily."

"I can still feel her, so as long as they don't-" Leo gasped. A moment later, he was on his knees on the floor. A pain like none he had ever felt before permeated his entire body, making it impossible for him to move or even breathe.

"Leo!" Erza kneeled at his side and put her hand carefully on his shoulder. "What is it?"

_What is it?_ Leo had no idea. He couldn't even tell where the pain was coming from, let alone what was causing it. As the feeling intensified, he realized it wasn't his body that was hurting, but his magic. He forced a breath into his lungs, lessening the stars that had filled his vision.

His magic was being manipulated, but Leo didn't know how, or how it could even be done. His magic was a living thing. It was his essence, his soul. He remained connected to anything he cast his magic on by little tethers. It was how he could find Lucy. It was how he kept an eye on everything in the different realms. The only way for him to lose those tethers was to remove the spell and take that portion of his magic back.

_That was it_.

That was why it hurt.

Someone had figured out how to cut the tether to Lucy.

They were eliminating his bond to her by severing the connection. That part of his magic was being cut off from the rest of him so he couldn't find her. He'd never had his magic removed like that before, so he hadn't known that such a thing would be so painful.

When the pain suddenly eased, he could sense his magic soothing itself, wrapping around the loose tether and attempting to heal where it had been cut.

"They- cut off my connection to Lucy."

Erza frowned. "And that causes you pain?"

"Normally it wouldn't, if they had just removed my magic, but they found some way to cut it. Since it's basically my soul, cutting it is more detrimental than just removing it." He looked at her through a single eye as he tried to breathe through the pain. "Our magic is very different from yours."

"So it would seem." Erza glanced at the window, and then moved silently to blend in with the shadows. "Someone is coming."

As soon as she spoke the words, the door jiggled and then someone began to knock. "Hey Lucy, open up! Why'd you lock the door?"

"It's just Cana." Leo took two deep breaths and then stood to answer the door, carefully arranging his face so she wouldn't know anything was wrong.

Cana squinted up at him as he swung the door open. "What are you doing here?"

"And good evening to you," Leo answered.

"I'm serious, Loke, what are you doing here? It's girls' night, go away."

"Am I not allowed to be here for some reason? Lucy is my friend too you know."

"_Girls' night_," she emphasized. "Go away now."

"Yeah, it's girls' night, so you're not invited," called Levy from the sidewalk, a smiling Juvia at her side.

"Listen, can you guys do this another night? There's something-"

"Nuh-uh," Cana said as she dropped her bags. "Loke, I will remove you with my bare hands if I have to. You've done what you can, but now it's our turn to help Lucy feel better about her man trouble. So go away."

Suddenly, Cana, Levy and Juvia all froze. Leo was confused until Erza joined him at the door. After a quick glance down the road, she walked outside and began to carry his frozen friends into Lucy's place. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Putting them inside." Loke grabbed Cana and her bag as Erza carried the other two passed him. "We do not have time for this," she said. "We must find Lucy soon. The longer she is gone, the harder it will be for us to track her, especially now that you are no longer connected."

Once the trio were comfortably situated around the living room and put to sleep, Leo and Erza returned to the kitchen.

"Tell me something," Leo said. "Did you leave the dragon on purpose?"

Erza glared. "I am not going to dignify that question with a response. Now tell me what plan you have to find the human."

Leo rubbed his hands over his face. "I need to find Aries and then speak with my king. We're going to need back up. I think I need to send an angel to each of the realms and see if they can find her. Some are better trackers than others, so it will take some time to coordinate, but I think it will be better that way.

"Lucy shouldn't have been alone, so I'm worried something happened to Aries. I'd like a little time to find her first. I think your theory about the midnight demons is sound, so why don't you check out their realm first?"

"I will do so, but I will need time to make my own stop." Erza crossed her arms. "The kings will need to be informed, because I think our best bet to find her will be Natsu, which means he will need permission to temporarily return to this realm."

"Are you sure?" asked Leo.

"I am." She took a breath and with a flash, her armor changed, becoming black as a moonless night. "You go find your friend and I will reach out to the kings. I will speak with Zeref first. Perhaps he will know where his brother is."

"Sounds like a good plan," he said. "We should plan on somewhere to meet up once we've finished those tasks."

"My office will be empty for several hours. The building as well. We can meet there once we are ready."

"Sounds good."

With a nod, Erza disappeared, leaving Leo alone except for the soft breathing coming from the other room. And Cana's snores.

Leo grinned a little. "To think she'd have the same idea as me."

In a flash, he was also gone.

* * *

"_I don't understand."_

_Lucy turned her head a little, but kept her eyes on the TV. "Don't understand what?"_

"_This is supposed to be a love story, right?"_

"_Basically, yeah."_

"_They're fighting an awful lot," he said, frowning._

"_Some couples do that."_

"_Seems like a crappy thing for people who love each other to do."_

_Lucy smiled and cuddled up against him a little more. "If you'll remember, we argue, too. And I kicked you into a wall when we first met."_

"_That's different," he argued, his warm arm wrapped firmly around her._

"_How? They having figured out yet that they like each other. They're still figuring out how to act around the other, testing boundaries and preferences. We do that, too."_

"_Well I still don't think that's very solid relationship behavior."_

"_They figure it out," Lucy reassured him. "Sometimes you just love someone so much, it's too intense and the pressure has to blow off in whatever way it can."_

_Natsu was quiet for a while. _

"_I'm glad we're not like that," he said eventually._

"_So am I," she said. "I'd hate to have to kick your butt every day."_

_Natsu pulled away a little, one eyebrow raised. "Oh, you think _you _would be the one winning?"_

"_Of course," Lucy said, confidently. "You think _you _would?"_

_He grinned and then pushed her over on her back in one smooth motion. "Of course, and it would easy." _

_Their laughter filled the room as Natsu tickled her, mercilessly. Lucy eventually managed to plant a foot and pushed both of them to the floor, but once she found herself on top, she found she didn't want to tickle him back. He was still chuckling as he laid under her, his smirk a challenge that, for once, she chose to ignore._

_She leaned down so her nose barely brushed his own. "You know, I think you would let me win."_

_He rubbed his nose lightly against hers. "Yeah, probably. Be safer for my health if I did."_

_With a smile, Lucy tilted her head and kissed him. She squeaked a little when he wrapped an arm around her and flipped them, but that quickly turned into a sigh as his hands slid under her shirt to reach her skin and his mouth continued to move against her own._

_It was a long time before they returned to the couch. When they did, Natsu was thoroughly confused by what was happening on screen._

_Lucy only laughed as she rewound the movie._

* * *

Zeref stepped off the elevator into the lab hidden miles below his home. It had taken him far too long to convince Erza Scarlet that he knew nothing of his brothers' whereabouts and even less about where Natsu's former master was. She was a shrewd demon, good at her job, and too suspicious for her own good. He'd almost decided to have her locked up until he was done, but the other kings would notice her absence, so he knew it was safer to have her running around, even if she was suspicious of him.

"Good evening, my lord." His new lead scientist had more backbone than his predecessor, but he wasn't quite as good at his job. Zeref was glad he'd managed to obtain the information from Zalanoon's minions' work. It had allowed him to follow through with his plan much sooner than they'd initially planned to.

"You sound rather pleased with yourself, Gillax," the king said as he paused next to the tall demon. His skin was a deep purple, with pitch black eyes and teeth that could give grown demons nightmares. His tail and wings were hidden, but Zeref knew they were enormous, and with the scars that littered his body, he was honestly terrifying to behold in all his glory.

It was no wonder Zeref had taken a liking to him.

Gillax grinned as he continued to tap away at his keyboard. "I've got the human strapped up, and now that I've combined all the information you gave me with my own experiments, my machine is almost running at peak efficiency."

"Almost?" Zeref frowned. "I thought you said you were ready for this."

"Oh I am, my lord." The demon switched some screens and pointed at one of the monitors. "I did what I could until I had her on my table. The machine is adapting and pulling her blood as quickly as it can, but I discovered that by manipulating her emotions while she sleeps, I can get her heart pumping faster and have the blood pushed through her body and collected more quickly."

"Is there no other way to do that?"

"Of course, my lord, but I'm missing some machinery to do it the old fashioned way, and my dream manipulation prototype is already here. And as you can see, I've already proven my theory is correct." The screen changed to display an incomplete graph. "That first bar is from her dreamless sleep. The second is nearly a third higher, and that's only the first experiment. I'm using my machine to manipulate her dreams by bringing up different memories using one of the other devices I found in the closet. Her different emotions will produce different results and once I've tested them all, I will know which memories to go find based on which emotion produced the best results.

"At which point," he finished with a smile, "we will be at peak efficiency."

Zeref gave him a small smile in return. "That is good to hear." He looked up at the screen once more. "Tell me, which emotion did you use for the initial test?"

Gillax went back to his keyboard as he responded.

"The strongest one, of course. Love."

* * *

Despair. Anger. Destruction.

_Annihilation_.

He needed to make everything look how he felt.

He needed to break it, break _everything_.

Maybe then he would feel better.

Maybe then the pain in his chest would fade and he could finally breathe again.


	73. Chapter 73

**So I promised it, so it shall be. To those that celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving! To those that don't… you're really not missing out on much anymore. The stores have honestly ruined the whole thing for me.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

_Lucy's heart was racing as she ran, zigzagging through the rundown city. She didn't remember being there before, but somehow knew she was going in the right direction. After a few more turns, she stopped._

_Ahead of her stood four men and a woman. The woman she didn't mind so much but the men…_

_The screeching behind her had her whipping around. A large, black skinned demon came to a stop a few dozen feet away. Green ooze dripped from its mouth as it stalked her, its wings vibrating._

_Lucy looked behind her again at the people standing silently before looking once more at the demon. _

_Which way should she go?_

_With a strangled sob, she bolted to her right down a different alley._

* * *

"So tell me again what you're doing here?"

Gillax brought up a new screen. "I altered my invention so I can put memories together. I figured the more scary things I threw at her, the better reaction I could get. So far it seems to be working. I'm going to have to go back and redo the first few tests but this is increasing the output from the last few by quite a bit."

On the screen, a blurry image showed Lucy running from multiple groups of people. They appeared to be in one of the cities in the Dark, from what Zeref could tell. As he watched, one of the smaller screens lit up, and a new group of people showed up directly in front of her.

"Seems I've found another." Gillax's smile widened. "This is incredible. With every addition, her heart rate and blood output increases. I never expected this to be so much fun!"

"Careful, Gillax." Zeref moved to peer down at Lucy, who remained strapped to the table. She was frowning and twitching, her breathing coming in sharp gasps. "We don't want to scare her to death."

"Sire, I'm not-"

"She's human, if you recall." The look that passed between them was cold and had Gillax shrinking back. "She is fragile. If you stress her heart too much, she could die. Be sure that doesn't happen, won't you?"

"Yes sir," Gillax said with a bow. "I will endeavor to keep her alive."

"Good." With that, Zeref turned and left.

* * *

_Anger_.

Red clouded his vision as he dug into the wall of the realm, trying to get out.

He wasn't supposed to see her. He was supposed to stay here and clear his head. He was supposed to pull himself together.

_He didn't care_.

As he continued to tear at the fabric of his brother's sanctuary, all he could do was allow the heat to flow through and out of him. He had no filter. No way to calm himself. No way to slow everything down.

He had to see her.

Deep down, deep _deep_ down, in the part of him that was more dragon than demon, he understood why he was there. He understood why going to see her was a bad idea. He understood that there would be severe consequences for his actions. Not only was he going to find his way back to the world he was banned from, but he was going to tear a hole in a realm.

They were never going to let him out of his nest again, if they didn't kill him first.

But he didn't care.

He was already dead without her.

He just wanted to take one last breath before the end.

* * *

Leo landed with a thud. He'd heard some chatter while visiting his king, and it hadn't been good. He needed to talk to find Natsu _now_.

"Leo, what on earth are you doing here?"

The angel whipped around, glad he hadn't had to look for the dragon. "Grandeeney, thank the gods. Where is Natsu?"

She frowned as she sat next to him. "I'm afraid I haven't seen him in a while. Not since he returned from the human realm."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know." Grandeeney leaned closer. "You seem frazzled, Leo. What's going on? Did something happen?"

"I need him. _Now._"

The dragon's frown deepened. "You know, the least you could do is let him mourn in peace. Haven't we done enough to him?"

"Grandeeney-"

"No angel, I won't help you." She stood and opened her wings, preparing to take off. "We have yanked him away from his mate, which is cruel enough, but he is also not allowed to go see her again. For the sake of the realms, I helped you separate him from her, but I will not help you find him when he is trying to put himself back together."

"They got Lucy again."

Grandeeney froze. With a growl the likes of which Leo had never thought to hear from the gentle dragon, she glared at him as the wind swirled around her. "You _lost_ the Heartfilia heir? What was the point of what we did if you were going to lose her again so soon after Natsu left? What are you angels even good for if you can't protect _one measy human?_"

Leo couldn't hold back the flare of his magic as he lifted his head to glare back. "There are many more demons trying to take her than we previously thought. I've had spies keeping an eye on the Dark since we retrieved Lucy and none have seen hide nor hair of Zalanoon, which means someone else has her.

"And whoever it is is strong. They managed to help a nightmare demon escape from the lowest realm and sent him to the human one to catch Lucy. I have multiple people keeping an eye on her, but a nightmare demon is a much different foe to deal with than any I have them watching out for. It was not our fault. If anything, it's the fault of Zeref. I understand they are his people, but he agreed to their punishment and has been in charge of keeping them contained since it was carried out."

"_Of course_ an angel would blame someone else," Grandeeney spit out.

In a flash, Leo transformed to his true form, his wings spread and the glow of his magic making it hard for anyone to look at him for too long, even the psuedo-dragon queen. "_Enough_," he growled. "I get it. You didn't want to split Natsu from his mate, and you don't like that they went so far as to ban him from seeing her again. I did not anticipate that result either, but it is what it is.

"Right now, I need your help to find him. Even if they are not bonded, I know he will be able to find her, and I do not have time for this game of yours. If these people are doing the same things with Lucy that Mao was doing, they will not need as much time as usual to collect enough blood to complete their ritual and combine the realms back into the origin. Mao was researching a way to help Lucy's body replace her blood faster than it is normally capable of. If I'm right, than the people who have her probably managed to get their hands on his research and will have a head start figuring out how to make that process faster.

"This isn't about me or what I did, or your part in it. This is about the realms and Lucy. I need his help and you're the only link I have to find him."

Grandeeney continued to glare at him, even as it began to hurt her eyes. "First you separate them and now you want them to be together again." She let out a breath, allowing herself to relax, which caused Leo to as well. "I hope you understand the irony."

"I do." Leo's glow faded almost completely, but he didn't change his form. "Please Grandeeney. I need to find her and I can't do it on my own."

"Don't you angels have better magic than the demons when it comes to that kind of thing?"

"Only sometimes." He frowned and rubbed his sternum, where the pain from the broken connection still stung. "And not when the magic is cut off."

That surprised her. "What do you mean cut off?"

He gave her the same explanation that he'd given Erza, and mentioned he was working with the other demon. "I had no idea your magic was so intrusive," she said eventually.

Leo nodded. "It's better for what we do. At any rate, will you help me?"

"I wish that I could," the dragon said, "but I honestly have no idea where Natsu is."

"He really hasn't been back?"

Grandeeney grew visibly uncomfortable. "Once he found out that even I had a hand in everything, he grew rather violent and went off to visit his brother. I haven't seen him since, and I don't know where he would go. This is his home, and with Igneel's nest here, I expected him to come back by now, no matter how angry he was."

"Would Zeref have sent him somewhere?"

"Where?" she asked with a small smile. "He can't return to the human realm, the other realms don't welcome any demons, partial or otherwise, and this is the only realm dragons are allowed to live. There is nowhere else."

Leo growled and began to pace. There had to be somewhere.

Erza visited Zeref. If Natsu had been there, she would know, right?

The angel lifted his hand and opened a small portal. On the other side, Erza appeared, looking annoyed as she walked down the stairs of a large castle.

"Erza."

The demon looked around, her expression changing to one of surprise as she spotted Leo's visage to her left. "Leo. What are you doing?"

"Checking in. Did you already speak with Zeref?"

"Yes, and he's giving me the run around. He seems sincere enough, but I can't shake the feeling that he's keeping something from me."

"Did you see Natsu while you were there?"

"No, should I have?"

The angel sighed. "I don't know. Grandeeney said he hasn't been back to the nest since he first arrived home. He left to go visit his brother and hasn't returned, and from what I hear, this is the only realm he can be in right now."

Erza crossed her arms and tapped her chin. "That's not _entirely_ true."

"What do you mean?" Grandeeney asked as she leaned down to see the demon.

"Natsu's options are limited right now, you are correct, but yours isn't the only one he could go to." She looked at Leo once more. "If Zeref wanted to, he could have sent Natsu to his private realm. I doubt any of the other kings would offer such an invitation, but as brothers, Zeref might be willing to."

"How would we get there?" Leo asked.

"Zeref would have to send us, but according to him, he doesn't know where Natsu is." Erza's expression became calculating. "If he's lying, and he did send Natsu away, I have to wonder why. While he did vote to separate Natsu and Lucy to help protect the realms, that doesn't necessarily exclude him from suspicion."

"I thought even the kings wouldn't dare lie to you?" Leo asked with a smirk.

Erza glared at him, making the hair in his mane stand up. "I told you, I could tell he was keeping something from me. I couldn't find a good way to ask, so I left. Accusing a king is not the easiest thing in our world.

"Under the circumstances, I think we should find out what he's hiding. If it _is_ Natsu, we may have to assume he's conspiring with whoever is trying to bring back the origin and get whatever information out of him that we can. I don't like the idea of accusing any king of such things, but we will figure it out when we get there."

"So how do you plan to figure out what he's lying about?"

"First, I need to finish reporting to the rest of the kings. Then I am heading to the lowest realm. I need to make sure Midnight is the only one involved. If others are missing, we may be in trouble." She lowered her arms. "Do what you can with the rest of the Zodiac. Perhaps they can find something in the meantime. I'll meet you in my office later, if you don't reach out first." In a flash, she was gone.

Leo dropped the portal and sighed. "If Zeref is hiding Natsu, there's no way we'll be able to find him."

"That's not entirely true." Leo looked up but didn't have enough time to react as Grandeeney opened her mouth and roared. He slammed his hands over his ringing ears until she'd finished, several seconds later.

"Little warning next time?" he asked.

"Sorry, but time is of the essence." Grandeeney looked down. "Follow me, Leo the Lion." With a flap of her wings, she was airborne.

It took a minute, but Leo was able to catch up. "Where are we going?"

"To get the others," she called over the wind. "If Zeref is hiding Natsu in his personal realm, there's no telling how long he'll keep Natsu there."

"Surely Natsu wouldn't want to stay forever?"

"Of course not, but those pocket realms run based on how their owner wants. If he chose to, Zeref could slow time down there to a crawl. Natsu may think only minutes have passed when in truth years could pass here without him being any wiser."

Leo felt uneasy. "So he could keep him there indefinitely, unaware that anything has transpired here."

"Exactly."

"Does Natsu not know that's a possibility?"

"No," she answered. "Not many do. Igneel used one once, which is the only reason I know. Natsu would have no idea, and he trusts his brother, so he'd have no reason to suspect him of foul play."

"So what exactly are we going to do about it?" Leo asked. If she was right, they'd have to somehow convince Zeref to bring his brother back, and with him denying knowing where Natsu was…

"Do not worry, Leo the Lion." She smiled at him. "We dragons are more observant and more powerful than you might think."

"Well, I think you're pretty strong, so that kind of terrifies me."

She laughed and flapped once more, the power of her wings and magic propelling them forward at incredible speeds. "Remember that feeling if you ever find cause to be upset with our kind. We are more than capable of defending ourselves."

"I'm not liking that threat, Grandeeney."

"It's merely a warning," she reassured him.

Suddenly, another set of wings joined them, and then another and another. Within minutes, it seemed all of the dragons had joined them. Leo kept an eye on them, but they seemed to be okay with him being there. "So what's going on?" he asked when it became clear she was not going to tell him what they were up to.

"We are going to send you to Natsu."

Surprise had him slowing down for a moment before he pushed back to the correct speed. "How is that possible?"

"As I said, we are much more observant than most give us credit for." She gave him a smile. "We know where the kings' realms are, and while they believe they are the only ones that can open it, that is just not true."

Hope filled Leo's chest. "You can really get me to Natsu? Even if he is Zeref's secret realm?"

"Especially if he is." She faced forward once more. "We will look there first. I have a strong feeling that's where he is, and those feelings are very rarely wrong."

Relief flooded his body and Leo's shoulders sank even as his wings carried him on. "Thank you, Grandeeney."

"There is no need to thank me," she said, "so long as you allow Natsu the opportunity to say goodbye this time."

"I promise," he said, his hand against his chest.

"Then hurry." With another strong flap of her wings, they all sped forward even faster. "Let us retrieve Natsu, so that you may once more save the Heartfilia heir."

* * *

It was too much.

He could feel fear filling his chest, and he didn't know where it was coming from.

He needed to escape.

It was the only way to save himself.

With claws that bled, he continued to scratch and claw at the realm's barrier, frantic to get out.

He didn't know what chased him, only that he had to do everything he could to keep going and not get caught.

_Faster_.

Even as the walls crackled and warped, he continued to dig.

_He had to escape. _

_He had to…_

_He had to find __**someone**__._


	74. Chapter 74

**Only one more review and we'll hit 400! With that milestone so close to being achieved, I just wanna take a moment to share one of the things I'm thankful for this year (since I didn't do it in the last chapter.)**

**I am thankful for YOU. Each and every one of you who read, favorite, follow, and review my stories (and me!) You guys have helped me achieve one of my life long goals of completing a story. With the end of this one so near, I'm close to doing that for a third time! And this one is so much longer than the other two are, so it really feels like I'm achieving something amazing. I have to thank each and every one of you, because without you- without your wonderful words, your love of reading, and your encouragement- I would never have gotten this far. **

**So for that, I have to say THANK YOU. Thank you for all the love guys. I really appreciate it.**

**And as always, happy reading!**

* * *

"We're here."

Grandeeney came to a stop with the other dragons. Uncertain with their target, Leo flew passed and had to come back. When he did, he found the dragons in a circle, around nothing in particular that he could see. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." With a smile, she nodded at one of the dragons with green scales, who opened their mouth and began a slow exhale.

"We won't be able to hold it open indefinitely," Grandeeney said as another dragon joined the first. "It will take us all to open it, and you'll have a short window to get in."

Three dragons were going at this point, their breaths mingling together to create a beautiful, swirling ball of magic. "We'll open it again in ten minutes so you can get back through. Unfortunately…" Grandeeney trailed off as she watched the ball of magic expand and then pop into a large portal.

Leo frowned. "I thought you said it would take all of you to open it?"

"It's supposed to…" Grandeeney turned and studied the portal as the other dragons looked on in concern. After a moment, she cursed quietly. "Natsu must be doing something."

"What could he possibly-"

"The border is thinner. That's the only way we would be able to open the portal without using all of us."

"So you think he's trying to get out?"

"It would be extremely dangerous, not to mention against all sorts of realm laws, but if he is being held against his will, I wouldn't put it past him."

The annual moved forward to enter the portal. "Wait, Leo." He stopped and turned towards Grandeeney, who looked worried. "Be careful." She shifted uneasily from side to side. "Natsu is strong, but it takes more strength than what a dragon of his age can call forth to tear a hole through the wall of a realm."

The angel let out a long breath. "You think he's let his other side out."

She nodded. Behind her, one of the remaining dragons added their breath to the portal as the first ran out of air. "Leo, I do not know if you'll be able to stop him. His demon side is very strong because it utilizes the strengths of both his bloodlines. If he has allowed his dragon side to be overcome, it may take more than what you have to stop him."

As the last of the original dragons switched out, Leo turned and stared at the portal. "I still need him, Grandeeney," he said eventually.

"Step carefully," she said. "His other side does not recognize friend from foe, and with our recent actions, he will be even more prone to lashing out at you."

He glanced her way. "Does that mean you won't be coming with?"

"I am sorry, Leo, but I cannot do that." She gave him an apologetic smile. "By helping you enter a private realm held by one of the demon kings, we are already breaking enough laws. I wish you luck, but I'm afraid I cannot join you."

Leo turned back and entered the portal after a long breath.

He was flung forward through the dark and landed with a thud on the other side. With a grunt, he found himself rolling over the side of a pile of loose bricks. He landed on his feet and cursed as he looked around.

He had landed on the wreckage of what used to be a large castle. Everything had been destroyed as far as the eye could see. The castle, the paths, trees, a pond… Even the ground had been ripped up.

"Damn it, Natsu, where are you?" He popped his wings and took to the air. Surveying the landscape from above, he realized it was worse than he thought. Natsu had reduced everything in the realm to rubble. There were no pieces big enough they could be identified, let alone salvaged. Zeref had quite a mess on his hands.

As he circled the property, Leo finally heard a disturbance. Off in the distance, there was a sound like nails on a chalkboard, along with screeching. With a deep breath, Leo flew towards the sounds, hoping he would only find an angry dragon.

Unfortunately, he soon found the opposite.

Natsu looked just as Virgo had described him in the arena in the Dark. Black shadows swirled around the large black form as he dug at the wall of the realm. Leo could see red splatters and drips on the walls and as he moved closer, he realized it was blood. Natsu was clawing at the wall with a violence that was terrifying, even to Leo. As far as he could see, most of his nails had ripped off, but he was still digging at the wall, trying to escape.

He had to get Natsu to stop and somehow push that demon persona back down. With another deep breath, he gathered his courage and readied himself to fight.

"Natsu!"

The demon whipped around, his burning eyes wild with anger and hate. His lip lifted to reveal sharp fangs as he growled and turned Leo's way. His shadows gathered around him and expanded as they covered Natsu from head to toe. Leo felt his skin tighten as the demon's eyes glowed even brighter.

He was studying him. Readying himself for a fight.

Leo didn't know how long he had before Natsu would attack, but he knew he had to try and get through to him fast.

"I know you're in there, Natsu," he called. The demon didn't seem to react as he continued to study his prey.

"Listen, I know you're upset with me. With Grandeeney, with Erza, with all of us… I'm sorry about what we did." Leo subtly floated backwards as Natsu bared even more of his teeth. "I know, you're upset, and I totally get that."

With a screech, Natsu suddenly disappeared into his shadows. Leo cloaked himself in his magic, a barrier that glowed faintly as his eyes searched around him for any sign of the demon.

"Listen, Natsu, I'm here to retrieve you. I need your help." He spun around slowly. "They got her. Lucy."

Leo jerked to the side, certain he'd heard something from Natsu. He saw nothing, but he kept searching. "Natsu, I can't find her on my own. They broke my connection to her." As the hair rose on the back of his neck, Leo jerked around. "Please Natsu. Lucy needs you. Lucy needs help. I need you to help me find her."

He moved higher into the air. "Can you do that, Natsu? Can you help me find Lucy?"

His breath was too loud. He took in a deep breath and held it, listening hard to the silence around him.

The attack hit him before he could react. He was shoved forward and landed hard on his stomach, bouncing a few inches off the ground. His shield protected him from most of the damage, but he didn't have long to enjoy the reprieve before he was flung back into the air. He was moving too fast to catch himself with his wings, but as he was flung away, he saw Natsu leave his shadows.

His jaw unhinged as he screamed at Leo and jumped at him. He caught the angel around the leg, clamping his teeth through the shield and into the meat of his thigh. Leo grunted, but he managed to keep from screaming as he landed on his back, Natsu's teeth sinking in deep. With a clap, he used his magic to force Natsu's mouth back open and took to the air. As his blood began to soak his robe, he quickly used his magic to close the holes.

The demon didn't give him a chance to do anything more as he appeared under him and then yanked on his bad leg to throw him. Leo caught himself before he hit the realm's barrier, but not in time to stop the large body from slamming into him. He lost his breath in a rush and then was flung back towards the ground.

Before he landed, he put up a barrier around himself. The ball of light bounced off the ground, but was slammed back into it as Natsu landed above him. Those soulless eyes glared at him as he used his remaining claws to try and break through the barrier.

"Natsu, stop this!"

The demon roared and slammed his fists into the barrier. After the third hit, it began to crack.

"Natsu, I need you to pull yourself together! Lucy needs you!" Nothing he was saying made a difference. He wondered how long he could hold up against the demon as he frantically tried to find a way through to him.

Natsu entered a frenzy as he clawed and slammed at the barrier. Leo took a deep breath to calm himself and as the barrier finally shattered, a bright light exploded around them.

The demon was flung into the air, but he caught himself quickly and dove back towards the ground. He roared when he realized his target had escaped and began to search around him once more.

He had to find his prey.

He had to eliminate his prey.

And then he had to find someone.

He didn't know who, but he had to get to them.

_Needed_ to get to them.

He whipped around as he heard a noise. Teeth exposed, he moved forward.

And then froze.

"Natsu…"

_It couldn't be_…

The demon couldn't move, didn't even seem to be breathing as he stared. A woman, with blond hair and chocolate eyes was staring up at him. Her eyes swirled with a combination of fear and relief as she began to smile. "Natsu, it really is you…"

His shadows faded, and his scales began to change, the red expanding across his body as he slowly moved forward. His wings folded in close to his body and his head lowered. Lucy took a few steps back as he tried to take in her scent.

"Is it really you?" she asked, fear making her stumble a little.

He seemed to fight with himself for a bit, shaking his head and whining as his scales morphed from black to red and back again. His shadows swirled and disappeared before forming once more around him. His head changed back fully to black scales and then he slammed it twice against the ground. As the red spread once more, he roared in anger and began to claw at his head.

Lucy gasped and retreated, drawing his attention. He looked at her, and the anger seemed to drain out of him as the black scales all disappeared and his wings grew back to their proper size. When he had fully changed back, the dragon lowered himself and purred in Lucy's direction.

Then, with a pop, Natsu was revealed. His eyes filled with tears as he moved forward. "Lucy-"

"Wait." Lucy put her hands up. "Are you okay now? You're not going to turn back into… _that_ again, are you?"

Natsu shook his head. "No. No, I promise I won't let him take over again."

"Good," she said with a sigh. With another flash, Lucy disappeared and Leo was revealed, looking rather uncomfortable.

Natsu jerked back with a hiss. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm trying to get you to come help-"

"HA!" Natsu turned away, but stopped after only a few steps as he looked around. Everything was destroyed around him. His brother's home was gone, as well as everything else in the realm. He hung his head as his anger flared once more in his chest.

"Please Natsu-"

"Go _away_, Leo," he growled. He kept his back turned as his eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to help you, don't you get it? You have _no right_ to ask me-"

"Someone has Lucy," the angel said quickly.

Natsu whipped around, anger hardening his features. "_WHAT?!_"

"Listen-"

"No, _you_ listen," Natsu said as he stalked forward and shoved his finger into Leo's chest. "I could have gone to the kings and fought to get permission to return to the human realm. I could have fought to resume my contract with Lucy. I could have done a lot of things to try and get back to her, but instead I came here to try and lick my wounds.

"I came here to try and pull myself together.

"I have been gone a few _measly hours_ and you have _already_ allowed her to be taken again! Are you angels good for _nothing?!_"

Leo took a step back as Natsu's scales rose once more to the surface. "You've been here a lot longer than that, Natsu. You've been gone from the human realm for a couple weeks already."

The hybrid seemed to falter a bit at those words, but collected himself quickly. "Does that matter? You still lost Lucy again!"

"I know, but it's not my fault."

"Nothing ever is!" Natsu shouted. "It was always _my_ fault that she was getting taken, but I'm gone now and you still don't have her safe at home! What are you guys even doing if Lucy isn't safe with you?"

"We weren't prepared for new players."

Natsu crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"

"It wasn't Zalanoon this time. We confirmed he was the one who took her before, but he's been missing since we recovered Lucy last time. We're fairly certain that he's dead, we just haven't been able to find a body yet to prove it.

"At any rate, there hasn't been any activity in the Dark, so we know it wasn't him that took her this time. It was a different demon."

"Who?" Natsu asked with a growl.

"We think it was a nightmare demon named Midnight."

With a roar, Natsu whipped around and kicked at a pile of debris. "How?! Erza put him back after I found him wandering the human realm!"

"We think he has help, we just haven't been able to prove who yet."

With a hiss, Natsu turned back around. "Who do you suspect it is?"

Leo frowned. "We don't have any proof. Ezra just had a feeling, and I've got a similar one."

"_WHO?!_"

Leo sighed. "I don't think you'll like my answer."

Natsu stalked forward, smoke starting to leak from his nose as his eyes began to glow. "_Who helped Midnight take Lucy?_"

Leo sighed but answered after a short pause. "We think it was his king. We think Zeref has her."


	75. Chapter 75

**My husband is the best. He's been asking me how my writing is going every few days to help encourage me to get it done before our little one arrives in a couple weeks. There are a few more chapters to come, I'm thinking between three and five, before this story will be wrapped up. While I'm sad the end is so near, I'm also excited to finish it up. I hope you guys will like it!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Deep in the king's artificial shadows, Zeref maintained their cover as he spoke with his consorts.

"So how long do we have?"

Zeref gave a lazy smile. "I'm told it won't take longer than another few days at most."

"We need it to be done sooner. That demon, Scarlet, has been wandering around asking questions."

"You know as well as I do that she can't accuse us outright," the king said. "Either lie or avoid the question. You can manage another few days."

"We've had enough, Zeref," the second voice said. "You have twenty four hours left before we're out. The rest of the kings are opposed to returning to the origin, and they outnumber us two to one. If we're caught, we're dead. You said you were ready for this."

"I'm in agreement," said the first. "You have one more day, or we're out, Zeref."

* * *

"Are you sure?"

Zeref nodded, his expression blank. "Keep an eye on her heart rate. She's human, but she's young. She should be able to hold up for another day of hard stress."

"Luckily for her, the stress won't be created by fear, and from what I know about human biology, that will help her last longer."

Zeref frowned as he looked back at Gillax. "I thought you said the tests for fear produced more than the other tests?"

"They did, but I had to redo them. My first few tests didn't use my memory manipulator. When I redid them, I found that this particular human responds better to sadness. Luckily, she's had a lot of grief in her life, so I will have no shortage of memories to pull from."

"Do whatever you have to do. The others are impatient now that Erza is poking around, so we have less than twenty four hours to complete the ritual. Can you do it?"

Gillax brought up a fresh screen and spent some time typing. Zeref watched him fill in factors and do math until he turned towards the king with a smile. "I absolutely can, sire."

"Good. Get it done."

* * *

"You think Zeref…? No, that doesn't make sense." Natsu shook his head, his brows drawn tight as he frowned. "He's as opposed to the return of the origin as the rest of the kings, why on earth would he take Lucy?"

"I heard there's a rumor going around that a couple of the kings aren't as opposed as they claim," Leo said.

"And you just assume Zeref is one of them? Why?"

"For one thing, Erza said he was being squirrely when she went to talk to him."

"Squirrely?"

"Figure of speech," Leo said with a wave of his hand. "He wasn't being forward with her. And for another thing, he sent you here and adjusted the way the time moves so that you would elect to stay longer. If I hadn't come to get you, you'd still think it had only been a few hours since you left Lucy. Even if you'd only stayed a day, you would have been back much too late to do anything to help her."

Natsu ground his teeth a little as he paced. His hands were glowing with a swirl of black and red fire as he tried to keep his magic under control. "So you think Zeref has Lucy, and used Midnight to catch her. And you think he's using her to try and break the separation between the realms."

"Correct."

"You have no proof," Natsu pointed out. "Just feelings. Why should I believe you?"

Leo sighed in annoyance. "Will you just come with me? The worst that could happen is I'm wrong but you still get to see Lucy when you help me find her. I've gotten permission from my king to bring you with me, so even if it upsets your kings, I will be at fault, not you."

Natsu crossed his arms as he studied Leo for a long moment. "Won't it mess with Lucy to see me? Isn't there some chance it could affect your memory wipe of me?"

For the span of a heartbeat, Leo was surprised by the knowledge that the hybrid didn't know Lucy remembered him. For the second beat, he contemplated how to tell him, and then decided not to ruin the surprise.

"I'll take the chance," he said. "Now, Grandeeney said they were going to open the portal again soon after I entered. We should prepare for-"

A popping sound echoed across the rubble, interrupting the angel, and Natsu gave him a grin as he popped out his wings. "Race ya," he said as he took off.

Leo didn't say anything as he took off as well, more worried about making it out of the portal before it disappeared than beating Natsu through.

On the other side, the pair landed in front of the white dragon as the trio with her closed the portal and then took off.

Grandeeney gave Natsu a small smile, but said nothing to him as he stared at her with a frown. "I didn't know you guys could do that," he said after a while.

The dragon nodded a little. "I know. It's a well kept secret around the nest. None of the hybrids know. I'd appreciate it if you kept that information to yourself. It comes in handy during times like these." She bowed her head. "I am truly sorry about separating you from Lucy, Natsu. I hope in time you will be able to forgive me."

"I have less to forgive you for than this one," Natsu replied with a thumb in Leo's direction. "If he could just keep Lucy safe instead of teasing me with these trips to see her, I might have a chance of getting over how mad I am."

"I'm taking him with me," Leo said. "I'll bring him back once we've found Lucy and returned her home."

"There is no rush," the dragon said as she took off. "Good luck!"

The pair waved and then Leo turned to open a portal to Lucy's when he felt his magic pulling at him. When he realized Erza was causing the disturbance, he opened a portal to her.

"Leo!" It was pitch black wherever she was. So black, Leo couldn't even see her.

"Erza? What's going on?"

"Midnight _is_ the only nightmare demon helping Zeref right now, but he does have other help." There was a thud and then the sound of whimpering. "He has two accomplices, although I'm having trouble figuring out who they are. He is also working with a demon researcher known as Gillax, who I am led to believe is rather ruthless and obsessive with his work.

"I am almost done here. When I am, I will return to my office so we can convene. Have you found Natsu yet?"

"Right here, Erza," the hybrid said. "Where are you?"

"The tenth circle."

Natsu frowned. "But there are only nine."

"That's only mostly true," came the response. "I'm sorry, Natsu, about what happened. I would ask you to hit me for my penance, but you cannot join me here. I will offer again later when I see you. In the meantime, please do your best to find Lucy. We need to return her safe and sound."

"That's what I'm planning to do," he said, looking uncomfortable. "I'd rather not hit you, though. I understand why you guys did what you did. I'm not okay with it, and I'm still pretty angry, but I do understand."

"Good." A chuckle came through the darkness. "That human changed you for the better, Natsu. I hope those changes will stick, even after she is gone."

"We'll see I guess."

"We need to get going, Erza," Leo piped up. "We'll join you soon."

As Leo closed the portal, he immediately opened one to Lucy's house. "I figured we'd start at her house. Maybe you can pick up-"

"She's not there," Natsu said. His eyes scanned the horizon as his hand came up to rub his chest.

Leo stepped close. "You know where she is?"

"Not exactly." Natsu opened himself up, allowing all of his senses to take in anything they could.

He could hear his and Leo's breaths, as well as the slowly moving lava river nearby. He could feel the heat of the realm on his skin and the faint movement from a light breeze. He could smell the sweat on Leo's brow, the dryness of the land, the brimstone and smoke in the air, and the remnants of the other dragons and their magic. He could see the red of the ground, the yellow of the sky, the craggy peaks of the mountains in the distance, and the suns as they set.

He dug down deeper, certain he had felt something, some tug that he associated with Lucy. Passed the anger, the annoyance, the pain… he could feel something that wasn't his.

"She's sad," he whispered.

* * *

_Lucy curled up in her childhood bedroom, her pillow soaked in her tears. Her sobs echoed around the room, the only sound in an otherwise silent house._

_Her mother was dead._

_Her father had had her kidnapped._

_Her friends had all left her._

_The first man she'd ever loved betrayed her._

_The man she still loved had disappeared._

_She wanted to go back to her mother's clearing. She wanted to remember the people she had loved more than anyone else and mourn alone, but she had no idea how to get there._

_Worse, the last time she'd left the room, she hadn't known where she was. This house wasn't her home. This room was her room, but nothing else was familiar. She was lost and she didn't know how to get back._

_She didn't even know where back was…_

_Suddenly, she was falling. She opened her eyes, but it was completely dark all around her. Her eyes slammed shut… she knew what was coming._

_When everything stopped moving, she refused to look. She didn't want to see it again. Didn't want to experience it all again. _

_She just couldn't…_

"_Lucy?"_

_Maybe if she ignored her this time… Lucy curled up tight and covered her ears. Hands found her shoulder and head, stroking her hair out of her face. "Lucy, honey, are you okay?"_

_A sob escaped Lucy as she realized she was going to have to see it again. No matter what she did, the cycle continued and she had to live the losses over and over again._

_Hating what was happening, hating herself even, she opened her eyes even though she knew what was coming._

_Because she wanted to see her._

_Her mother frowned as she saw the tears, but she smiled as Lucy rolled over._

"_What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."_

* * *

"You can still feel her," Leo breathed. "That's perfect! That means you can still find her!"

"I don't know if I can," Natsu said as he rubbed at his chest some more. Lucy's sadness was like a slow burn. It kept fluctuating, getting worse and then better, but would get worse again without fail, slowly growing over time.

"I don't understand," Leo said.

"I can feel her, kind of like how I could before with the summoning tag, but it's fainter than before. And I don't feel her in any particular direction, I just _feel_ her."

Leo groaned and sank his fingers into his mane, pushing the hair up in multiple directions. "Okay, just let me think. There has to be some way to fix this."

"Tell me again why you can't track her?"

"They cut off my magic. It still hurts, honestly, but I'm trying to ignore it."

"And by cut, you mean literally?"

"Yes, literally."

"So she still has a piece of your magic in her. Have you tried tracking it?"

"I can't." Leo rubbed his face. "Unless it's attached to me, it's dead magic. Worse, if she doesn't live through whatever's being done to her, it could fester and rot inside of her since she's human."

Natsu's stomach flipped. "So she's going to die if we can't find her."

"She's in danger of that as long as she's away from us."

The hybrid's eyes flashed. "It seems to me you angels are the problem here. What were you thinking, putting your magic in her if it could kill her?"

"I told you, most would just remove that part of the magic, not cut it off. I still don't understand why they did it the way they did- it's not an easy process. I guess there's the chance they could have figured out what would happen by leaving it in her, but not many would have the proper knowledge to figure it out." Leo rubbed his face again. "I have to find her and remove it before it…"

Natsu watched Leo stop pacing, a look of realization spreading across his face. "What?"

"She's human," he breathed, "but she's one of the few that has a little magic in her. My magic won't hurt her, but it might help her."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at the angel. "I don't understand."

"Once the kings had agreed to the separation of the realms, my king was put in charge of protecting the Heartfilia line. The Zodiac have been in charge of watching over and protecting them in the human realm ever since the first queen sacrificed her life.

"Even with the Zodiac's presence, my king didn't believe that was enough to protect them." Leo lifted his palm, allowing his magic to swirl in his palm in a faint golden glow. "When the first queen's daughter became pregnant, he visited her in her sleep and passed on a drop of his blood and his magic. It strengthened their line, helping to ensure that they could survive the multiple generations needed to complete the ritual."

He smiled as he looked up at Natsu. "My magic isn't dead inside her. I still can't trace it, since it is no longer linked to me, but it will work with my king's magic to strengthen her further against whatever is being done to her."

"Which means…?"

"She's going to live," Leo said, relief fueling his movements. "We just have to find her."


	76. Chapter 76

**Things are heating up kids! Our favorite hot headed, pink haired pyro is about to find himself in an interesting position. I wonder how he will react… **

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Leo, buddy, I get the feeling you didn't think this through," Natsu said.

"What are you talking about?"

Natsu remained where he was in the center of Lucy's kitchen. He hadn't moved an inch since Leo had brought them there, afraid he might break down if he walked through her home. His fingers dug into his arms in a painful grip as he tried to keep himself from touching her things, walking where she walked, laying where she laid…

"You said you brought me here to help you find her, right?"

"Yes, so would you please stop the statue routine and start looking?"

"She wasn't even taken from here! You said yourself that she was on her way home when she was grabbed."

"I said I _think_ she was," Leo corrected. "If she'd been in her house, my runes should have stopped her. However, I understand that all demons have differences in their magic and maybe one of them could have snuck her out."

"So your magic would have stopped the demon from grabbing Lucy or just leaving?"

"It would have caught the demon in a trap between the layers of runes, stopping them from getting in and keeping them away from Lucy so she was safe while I worked on getting here."

Natsu glanced around the kitchen. Plue was rubbing against his ankles, his purrs so loud they practically echoed around the space. In a blink, Natsu disappeared into a black smudge on the floor and then was gone all together. The cat stared at the space for a moment, and then sat down to wait, as though knowing Natsu would return.

A moment later, Leo heard his runes trip, sensing Natsu's presence as it slipped passed. He put his hand on the wall and found that Natsu had slipped all the way through to the outside. After a little while, he slipped back in and then reformed in the kitchen.

Natsu rolled one of his shoulders as Plue resumed his rubbing. "It's a good barrier, but a nightmare demon would definitely be able to slip through. I had some trouble, no doubt because I'm only half demon, but someone like Midnight would have been able to do that no problem. It might have slowed him down a little bringing Lucy with him, but not enough to stop him."

"Then will you look through the rest of her home, please? You just proved he could have grabbed her here."

"Did you not do a trace spell?" Natsu asked.

"Yes," Leo said, "but it didn't work. Now will you just-"

"Why?"

A shutter came down over Leo's face. "I don't know. Now will you just do it, please?"

Natsu casually moved to sit at Lucy's table, in her seat of course, and studied Leo. The angel was wound tight, and it was obvious he was trying to look casual, but he was failing. "What's going on, Leo?"

"There's nothing-"

Natsu cut him off. "Don't lie to me. The longer you refuse to talk, the longer we wait to find Lucy." Even saying it made Natsu want to skin himself as the itch started. He hated that he wasn't looking for her, but he had a feeling he needed to confront whatever was bothering Leo first in order for them to be effective.

"It's nothing."

"Nothing wouldn't be bothering you. Talk."

Eventually Leo sat down with a grumble. "The missing piece that's in Lucy is messing with my magic."

One of Natsu's brows shot up. "What do you mean?"

"Most of my magic is fine, but some of my spells just get caught where that hole is. I think it needs to finish healing, but I don't know for sure. I've never heard of it happening to another angel, so as far as I know, I might just always have this problem." He put his face in his hands. "I'm hoping we can find her soon enough I can pull it back out and try and fix it."

"And if you can't?"

Leo looked up and then averted his gaze. "I'm trying not to think about it."

Natsu watched him for a moment more and then stood. "Well, let's get this going. Lucy doesn't have all day for us to pull our heads out of our asses and save her."

* * *

"Is there something wrong, sire?" Gillax asked.

Zeref didn't respond as he stood over Lucy and watched her. She was pale and her skin was coated in sweat. Her brows were smashed together and her breaths were coming out in gasps most of the time. He leaned closer, but his conclusion was the same.

She was not at death's door. And wasn't that disappointing?

He stood up with a frown and wondered what they had done wrong.

"No matter," he said out loud, surprising Gillax. "There's more than one way to gut a hybroneux and more than one way to kill a human."

He left without another word, wondering if perhaps he should allow the honor to go to his partners, but then banished the idea.

As he was doing all the work, he decided he should be allowed to be the one to kill the Heartfilia heir.

It really was too bad the other kings weren't on board with the idea. Something so monumental deserved a ceremony.

With another smile, he entered the elevator and began to plan.

* * *

"So what are you saying?"

Leo leaned back against the wall as Natsu answered Erza's question. "I need to perform-"

"I heard that part," she said with a wave of her hand. "It's the _where_ that's the problem."

Natsu frowned. "I thought you were both certain my brother was involved?"

"I do not recall using the word 'certain.'"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Erza, you said you suspected him."

"Yes, and knowing where Natsu was being kept has proven I was right that he was keeping something from me."

"So you _honestly_ think he was just hiding Natsu for no reason? Come on, Erza, you gotta give me this. That's a hell of a coincidence otherwise."

"Coincidences do happen," she said. "Look at Natsu. It's a rather big coincidence that he showed up as Lucy's demon when she shouldn't have even been able to summon him, _and _turned out to be his mate."

Leo shook his head. "That's not a coincidence, that's divine providence. Without her being the target of the prophecy, her life would have passed in relative normalcy just like the others."

"So says you."

Natsu could see Leo getting worked up, so he decided to intervene. Normally he wouldn't, but this was wasting valuable time they could be using to find Lucy. "At any rate, if you guys are right, this will save us time. I just need to get onto the property without Zeref noticing me. If he finds me, we'll have problems."

"Can't you just disguise yourself?" Leo asked.

"He's my family. He'd see through that kind of magic. And with our shared blood, I'm not sure a handmade one would work either. As it is, my proximity might set him off, which is why I need you two to distract him."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that?" Erza asked.

"Tell him you're following up on a lead or something. Ask if he suspects the other kings. Give him whatever you need to so he has his full attention on you."

"What if we told him what we _really_ know?" Leo suggested. "That might spook him enough to want to check in on Lucy, perhaps lead us to her."

"He would never be so stupid as to do that while we're around," Erza pointed out.

"Yes, but Natsu could follow him. I can hide him for a little while with my magic. If he can figure out where Zeref is hiding her, _if_ he's hiding her, then we can go get her back."

"Are you sure you can do it?" Natsu asked, giving the angel a hard look.

"Yes, I'm sure," Leo said, answering the hybrid's look with one of his own.

After a moment, Natsu nodded. "Fine. I'll only need a few minutes to do the ritual." His fist tightened around the journal in his hand. "If she's there, it's all I'll need."

Erza nodded and then stood. "Let's get going then."

* * *

Natsu stuck to the shadows as he watched Leo and Erza walk up the front steps. He hadn't wanted to say anything, but he'd begun to suspect his brother as well. While his brother had always been nice to him, he'd been off when Natsu had last spoken to him. And with his first solution to be to send him off instead of convincing him to talk like he usually would…

Added to that, now that he was back, he could feel Lucy stronger here. Even if Zeref wasn't the one who took Lucy, she was still somewhere near him, and that was a pretty strong case against him being involved. The door opened and Zeref's stuffy butler appeared. Natsu sank further into his shadows until the trio entered the house and the door closed.

When the door shut, he took a deep breath and sat back to wait. He needed to give the others a few minutes to get started before he came close, to make sure Zeref would have his attention on them.

As he waited, he allowed himself a moment to just feel. He was pretty proud of himself for how well he was holding everything together. Despite having only had a few hours to process Lucy being ripped from his life, he was doing rather well, his destruction at Zeref's other home aside.

Natsu attributed that to his mating instincts. That part of him was strong, and was overpowering the rest of his emotions to keep him focused on saving Lucy. He was glad for it, because underneath all of that…

Under all that, he was a wreck.

Lucy had not only been taken from him, to live her life without him, far out of his reach, but he could nothing to change it. He had had his mate for a month. Or was it two? He didn't know, but he knew it wasn't long enough. He was in a turmoil the likes of which he'd never experienced before, and now with her missing, it was infinitely worse. Despite the focus his mating side was providing, he kept thinking about what could be happening to her, and the ideas were worse and worse with time.

With a shake of his head, Natsu turned back to the castle. He could feel Leo and Erza inside and he could tell his brother was with them. Even though he wasn't sure how long they'd been talking to him, he wasn't willing to wait anymore. No matter how focused he was, he was still a hair trigger, and everything in him was screaming at him to find Lucy _now_.

With a quick scan of the area, he left his hiding place and began to look around Zeref's castle. The thing was enormous, but in his shadows, he was able to finish his search in record time. There was a small alcove in the courtyard that was out of the way and mostly hidden. He would have preferred to stay outside of the building, but it would be smarter to do the ritual in the middle of Zeref's castle. If Lucy was inside somewhere, she would be easier to find this way.

He rose out of his shadows and checked around him once more. There were four doors that opened into the courtyard, but none of the paths passed near his hiding spot. Since Zeref had no pets that might sniff him out and the ritual was silent, he would be fine where he was. He set Lucy's journal on the ground in front of him, careful to pick a dry spot. Next, he pulled out the stones he had prepared in advance and put them around the journal at even intervals. Once they were properly placed, Natsu checked to make sure the symbols were in the appropriate order before he started the spell. He leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of the book, inside the circle, and closed his eyes.

He started up the mantra in his head as he willed his body to relax and sank into his magic. The deeper he could go, the better the spell would work. He ignored the heat, the buzz in the air, the footsteps within the walls, the sweat on his skin. He sank further and further into himself, willing his inner senses to rise to the surface.

The spell he was using was designed to use an item that was treasured by the person being sought out and help to discern their whereabouts. People on the move could be tracked and anyone sitting still could easily be located, so long as the spell was performed properly. Natsu wiped his mind, forcing himself to only feel his magic as it searched for Lucy's location. If he could not find anything, it meant she was in a different realm. All he needed was a ping, just one little ping, and he would know he was in the right place…

Just as he felt something shift in his magic, a door opened into the courtyard.

"So you're saying you know where she is?" Zeref's voice floated across the air, threatening to distract Natsu from his spell.

"No, we're saying we have some suspicions, but nothing concrete yet," Erza corrected.

There was a pause. "Tell me, Leo the Lion, why is it one of our demons is helping you find your charge?"

"She is as worried as I am, of course, and offered to aid me in recovering Lucy," Leo answered.

Natsu ignored them, cutting off the noises around him, and focused on Lucy's name. He said it over and over in his head, recalling every detail about her that he could.

That shift started again, and then he could feel it, a line between himself and his mate. It was flimsy and dull, but he continued to focus, making it grow brighter and more detailed. He knew she was in his realm.

Relief flooded him, allowing his magic to rise up and strengthen the spell on its own. As the line became even more focused, Natsu felt his anger rise. It stretched straight below him, miles below him. When the end of the line lit up, marking Lucy's location, Natsu's concentration snapped.

His eyes flashed open, immediately cutting off the spell. As a growl began to build in his throat, he slammed his hands over his mouth. He wasn't alone yet, and if Zeref figured out he was there, they would have no chance of getting to Lucy in time.

"I understand your concern, but I think you should focus more on finding the Heartfilia heir than my brother." Zeref's voice was farther away now. "He was very upset when he came to speak to me. I think he needs more time to pull himself together before you speak to him again."

Natsu's anger spiked, and rather than go after his brother, who he desperately still wanted to trust, he picked up the journal and sank back into his shadows.

He was through waiting.

He was going to find Lucy on his own.

Leo felt a chill sweep through him as Erza continued to speak to Zeref. He looked around, pretending to study the landscape, as he searched for the source of the cold. When he finally realized what it was, he had to stop himself from cursing out loud.

Natsu was on the move.

He turned back towards the other two, as nonchalant as he could be. "Erza, he's right. Even if Natsu didn't hate us right now, he's not allowed to be around Lucy. We'd have to get permission from all the kings and that would take too long."

Erza studied him with a sharp eye as he spoke and then nodded. "Fine." She turned back towards Zeref. "If you hear anything, please let us know. With one of your demons involved, you might be the best bet we have of figuring out where Lucy is."

The king nodded. "Of course. I promise if I hear anything, I will let you know immediately." He reached forward and shook their hands. "Believe me, none of the kings wants a return to the origin, least of all me. It would ruin everything we've built over the last few centuries."

"Thank you," Leo said. "We'll get out of your hair now. We apologize for taking up your time."

"It was no trouble," Zeref said with a smile. "I'll walk you out."

Leo barely managed to maintain his cool until they left the castle and moved out of earshot. "We have to get to Natsu. Now."

"What did he do?"

"I think he found Lucy. I don't know how he's getting there, but I could feel him moving around the castle and then he went underground, fast."

Erza crossed her arms as she thought. "I am unaware of any way for us to get underground to follow him without finding whatever way Zeref uses."

"I do, but I'll need some help hiding her entry. Zeref will feel it no matter what I do to try and cover it up."

"Just tell me what to do."

* * *

Natsu shot down the elevator shaft until he felt a change in the air. It became moist and warm, not like the rest of the cold journey down. He slowed down, stopping only once he'd hit the bottom. He partially reformed to check for other life forms. When he was certain there were none, he slipped through the crack in the doors and reformed just on the other side.

Looking around, he felt his stomach twist at what he found. Multiple screens shone at him with varying information, most of it about Lucy. He found machines surrounding a flat metal table, one of which still had blood in the tube connected to it. The drip of Lucy's blood on the metal table nearly sent Natsu into a fit, but he managed to calm himself just as he gripped the edge of the table. He moved his hands and pressed them against the center.

It was still warm.

Briefly, he considered trying to get Erza and Leo to help him, but decided against it. As far underground as he was, his brother wouldn't be able to sense him, but if he returned to the surface, he risked his brother figuring out he was there.

He sniffed the air, catching Lucy's scent first. He took a deep breath, and once he was assured that she'd been alive when she'd been moved, he continued to sniff out whoever else had been there.

He could smell one scent that was mixed with cleaning agents and other chemicals. He assumed that was Gillax, the researcher Erza had mentioned. As he breathed in more and more of the room, he realized there were two scents he recognized, but couldn't name. After a couple minutes, he quit trying to identify them and instead tracked them.

He figured out that all four had left the same way, so he sank into his shadows once more and followed the trail. As he made his way through the labyrinth, he realized the lab was much more extensive than he could have ever imagined. He briefly wondered what other experiments his brother had been working on, but then shut those thoughts down so he could focus.

Eventually, he found himself in the entrance to a cave. Fully within his shadows, he climbed the wall, moving along the crevices to hide his presence. Once he had a good spot, he scanned the room.

Red hot anger flashed through him as he saw the large pool in the middle, filled with Lucy's blood. Symbols had been written around the entire thing, in multiple rows that covered from the floor to the innermost rim. The pool was so full, Natsu wasn't sure much more would fit in it before it spilled over.

Voices floated up to him and he realized there was another doorway besides the one he'd come through. As he watched, a pair of demons entered, carrying Lucy between them. Her head flopped like a ragdoll, but Natsu could have sworn he saw her limbs twitching every so often like she was awake.

The trio entered the candlelight in the middle of the cave, and as the demons began to string Lucy up to a large cross, Natsu realized he knew who they were. Xeenathen and Rhjothe, two of the demon kings…

He couldn't believe it. He'd been certain none of the kings wanted a return to the origin.

Now that he thought about it… he didn't know why he'd believed such a thing. Demons were greedy and evil by nature, at least most of them. Bringing back the origin would give them a huge advantage. By not keeping them separated from the races that had little or no magic, they could easily run rampant across the whole of the origin and eventually rule. Why wouldn't they want that?

And what if there were others? He could only see the two, but that didn't mean they were alone. And if he had to fight them _and_ Zeref…

He didn't know if he could win.

He didn't know if he could save Lucy.

Deciding it would be best to find Leo and Erza, he began to retreat, but before he could, he saw more movement.

A shadow rose up next to the kings, neither of which reacted to the presence. Once he had fully formed, Midnight crossed his arms and legs and floated on his shadows in the space next to them. "Are you guys getting ready for the completion of the ritual?"

"We are," the taller one said. Xeenathen was extremely thin, with white skin, bonelike wings, and teeth that were inches long. "Zeref asked us to set up while he took care of some business upstairs."

"Well you might want to be careful," Midnight warned.

"Why is that?" Rhjothe asked. His red skin and burning hair created a consistent glow around him that lit the ground a few feet in every direction.

Midnight glanced up and then pointed directly at Natsu. "Some of the upstairs business seems to have found its way downstairs."


	77. Chapter 77

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

_No no no_, Natsu thought. He wasn't ready for them to know he was there. Midnight said they were getting ready to complete the ritual, but he didn't know what that entailed! And he was a good fighter but…

Xeenathen and Rhjothe were kings, two of the strongest demons in the realms! He didn't stand a chance against them all in his current form.

And if he let the demon out… well, he was as liable to hurt Lucy as he was to save her.

"Who's there?" Rhjothe yelled as the glow he was creating increased. Next to him, Xeenathen hissed.

"It's Natsu," Midnight said. "It seems he managed to escape Zeref's realm somehow."

"I can smell him," Xeenathen said, his breath wheezing out of his lungs.

"Don't worry, I can take care of him," Midnight reassured them.

"You will do no such thing," came a voice. Gillax ducked his head as he entered from the other doorway, slowly removing his lab coat. His teeth glinted in the candlelight as saliva dripped from their sharp points. "Midnight, take the human back upstairs. Zeref will want her safe until we are done."

The other demon scowled. "I don't take orders from you."

"No, but you take them from our kings, and I think they would support my claim that you are best suited to keeping the heir away from our dear hidden hybrid. Wouldn't you, Xeenathen and Rhjothe?"

"He is right," Rhjothe said. "Bring her upstairs, Midnight. We can handle this."

"Whatever," Midnight said with a sigh. His shadows came out and wrapped around Lucy. A moment later, the pair was gone.

"NO!" Natsu emerged from his shadows, unintentionally revealing himself as he sought Midnight's shadow amongst the others. A sharp icicle landed in front of his face, barely missing his shadow. Xeenathen's raspy chuckle filled the cave as he aimed again.

Natsu growled as he allowed himself to fall to the cave floor. A one against three would be difficult, but now that Lucy wasn't around, he could let out his other half. He wasn't sure he could himself back out later, but he'd worry about that when the time came.

Just as he rose up, there was a shout behind him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Erza moved forward, her armor causing her body to blend into the darkness, leaving only her head and hair visible. Her eyes landed on the pool in the middle and then she glared at the other kings. "Sires, it would seem you were not very truthful in the kings' last meeting."

"This is none of your concern, Scarlet," Rhjothe rumbled. "There's no way Zeref brought you down here, so you are entering a king's home without permission. There will be serious consequences once we leave."

"I actually think she'll be in rather good standing with the other demon kings once we leave here." Leo moved to stand beside Erza, his aura a faint glow around him, although it was getting brighter and brighter the more he looked around. Behind him, there was some movement, but Natsu couldn't see who it was.

With a silent curse, he forced his other side back down. With both Erza and Leo here, he couldn't risk letting himself loose, and if he couldn't let himself loose…

Gods above, he just wanted to save Lucy.

"Leo-"

"I know. I have Virgo on it." The angel looked around at the trio. "Which one would you like, Natsu? Since Lucy is your mate, it seems only fair you should get to choose who you'd like to fight.

"Would you prefer one of the kings that helped to plot her capture or…" His gaze sharpened. "The one who's been bleeding her dry since she arrived?"

Natsu growled as Gillax chuckled. "Bring it on, little hybrid. You don't stand a chance."

With a snarl, Natsu took a step forward. "I think this one will do just fine. If you need help with the others, I'm sure I'll be up for it after my warm up."

Leo and Erza chuckled as they readied their stances. "I guess that will depend if we leave you anything to play with."

In an explosion of sound, everyone shot forward at once. Gillax, wings now fully exposed, managed to surprise Natsu with his speed, avoiding the hybrid's charge, and clipping his wing, causing him to roll and nearly wipe out. For a few moments Natsu remained on the defensive, trying to learn the other demon's pattern.

Gillax began to laugh and then paused in the air. The others were making a ruckus with their own fights, but Natsu could hear him plain as day. "This cave seems a little small, doesn't it? Perhaps we should move our fight elsewhere." His wings snapped out, and then he shot towards the other doorway, disappearing into the darkness.

Natsu ignored the others as he fell into his shadows to follow him. He was vaguely aware of a few smaller tunnels off to the side, but Gillax wasn't heading there. Eventually, they entered a large open cave with a small, trickling creek and nothing else. The demon stopped in the middle of the space, his wings moving faintly to keep him airborne. "Natsu, wasn't it?"

With a hiss, Natsu revealed himself again, his wings vibrating from his anger. "And who are you?"

"I'm Gillax, your brother's top researcher." The demon bowed a little, his purple skin blending in perfectly with the blackness around him.

"Never heard of you."

"That's understandable. My work isn't something he talks about much."

"And yet you do it. Why?"

"Because he gives me free reign to do my work as I see fit," Gillax said. "He's not as fond of rules and regulations as the institution is. Why, they never would have allowed me to test out my memory manipulator on-"

Natsu lunged, his shadows a cloak around him, and passed right through where Gillax had been without a touch.

"Now now, don't you want the answer to your question?"

"Not anymore," came the response as a blast of black fire flew through the air. It barely missed Gillax, who flew higher up.

"Well that's rather rude, isn't it?"

"I know what you're doing, and it ain't gonna work," Natsu spit out. He fully immersed himself, hiding in the darkness as the other demon lit his hands to try and track him.

"I wasn't doing anything but answering your question," Gillax argued.

"You're trying to make me angry so I won't fight as effectively." He rushed passed the other demon, cutting him across the arm before he returned to the edges of the cave. His voice floated around the room, a spell forcing it to echo and hide his position. "That, or you're trying to keep me busy. I don't have time to play with you. I have to rescue Lucy."

"Then be my guest and go after her," Gillax said with a smile. He was focusing across the cave, the exact opposite side from where Natsu was.

"I will, as soon as I take care of you." Natsu zipped across the room, exposing his claws just before he reached his target. Gillax whipped around and cut Natsu instead as he dodged the claws and sliced through his shadow with a long blade.

Natsu hissed as the blade cut him, but didn't stop moving. Scales coated his skin as he fully left his shadow and his magic covered him in red and black fire. His spiked tail sailed through the air, barely missing Gillax's head as the other demon swung low at Natsu's feet.

The pair swung and dodged for a few minutes, neither getting hit or landing any blows, before Natsu finally managed a punch to the other's shoulder. For a moment, his arm went limp, surprising Gillax long enough for Natsu to wrap his tail around him and fling him to the ground.

The air rushed out of Gillax's lungs as he landed, and a crunch echoed around the space as Natsu landed on him. His limp arm refused to respond, and then Natsu leaned forward to sink his teeth into his other shoulder. He howled in pain as Natsu growled and clenched his jaw, squeezing his mouth shut. As Gillax's shoulder popped out of the socket, he suddenly roared. He flapped his wings hard, knocking Natsu loose, and shot into the air again. Blood dripped off him, hitting the stones below in quiet drips.

As Natsu took flight again, Gillax began to laugh. "Oh, this is getting fun," he said, his arms hanging limp at his sides. Despite that, his mouth spread into a wide grin as he continued to laugh. "I should expect nothing less of Igneel and Dathrokia's son."

Natsu ignored his words, instead allowing himself to grow even larger as he shot through the air once more. Gillax dodged to the side and suddenly, he was across the room. The hybrid turned, his claws and teeth fully extended, and hissed.

"Oh now now, no need to get upset. I figured it out long before Zeref told me. I'm rather surprised. Igneel didn't strike me as one that could be so easily duped. But then, the former nightmare demon queen _was_ rather cunning."

Natsu blinked, hard, as he realized Gillax's wings were changing. He had two pairs now, moving at different speeds, and one of them appeared to have an extra hand on the end. He'd also grown larger, his tail nearly twice as long now. Natsu should have expected it, but he hadn't thought much about the fight, only focused on trying to take him down quickly so he could get to Lucy.

"Are you ready, Dragneel? It's been a long time since I was able to go all out, so I find that I'm looking forward to this quite a lot. I apologize in advance," Gillax said, his head lowering and a grin spreading across his face, "but I really don't know how to hold back like this."

Natsu tried to ready himself, but he was not prepared for the speed at which Gillax moved. He could barely track the other demon as he zipped passed again and again, some times slicing him with those taloned fingers, and sometimes merely knocking him around in the air when he was able to move fast enough. He was getting dizzy, his opponent's movements harder and harder to follow, when he was suddenly thrown at the ground and a large body landed on top of him.

The air left his lungs in a hiss, and a blade slammed into his thigh, pinning him to the ground. Gillax laughed as he began to swipe his talons across Natsu's chest. Natsu tried to get up, but with his body pinned by the larger demon and his wings held down by the larger ones above him, he couldn't do much more than swing with his arms, which were somehow too short to reach Gillax.

He tried, again and again, but couldn't do any damage as the other began to break through the scales on his chest. Blood splattered them both, and the more he got on himself, the more Gillax laughed, and the more crazed his eyes became.

Natsu began to throw fire at the other demon, but it bounced harmlessly off his skin. None of his spells seemed to have any effect, and the more he tried, the more exhausted he became, as though Gillax was gaining strength the more magic he threw at him.

_Of course…_ Natsu gasped as Gillax's claws finally found his skin. _He's one of _those _demons._ The kind that fed off magic instead of food or blood. He actually _was_ getting stronger the longer Natsu used his magic on him.

He roared as Gillax continued to claw at him, his attention moving further down, aiming for the organs and soft flesh of his stomach. Natsu tried once more to put his strength into his wings and knock the other demon off, but he failed.

With a grunt, Natsu resigned himself to his fate. If he wanted to live, he would have to allow his other side out. He was strong, there was no doubt, but he had always been at his strongest while in his demon form. The mixture of his blood made that form far more lethal than he could ever be in his human or dragon form.

With an apology to Lucy, because he didn't know if he could pull himself back enough to save her once this fight way over, he closed his eyes and gave himself up to his dark side.

Gillax paused as his prey suddenly stopped moving. "Aww… don't tell me you're dead already. I'm not ready for the fun to end."

When Natsu's scales suddenly went full black, Gillax's senses went wild, telling him to get back, but he didn't have time to move before those eyes snapped open, paralyzing him with their glowing depths.

And then Natsu moved.

* * *

**These next few parts might get a little weird on length. I have specific cut off points I'd like to stick to, so I might not make my preferred five pages every time. I will try to keep it close, but bear with me when these aren't as long as the others.**


	78. Chapter 78

**I am just so freaking excited that we've finally made it here!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Once Leo was sure the restraints were on tight enough, he allowed himself to sink to his knees to catch his breath.

King Rhjothe had not gone down easy. Right after Natsu and the researcher had flown off, the kings had taken their fights off into other areas of the caves as well, probably to separate them. Leo wasn't worried about Erza, even against a king, and usually he wouldn't worry about Natsu, but he wasn't in a great head space at the moment. He had a feeling the other demon knew that, and would taunt Natsu with stories about whatever he'd been doing with Lucy to get under Natsu's skin and affect his ability to fight. Leo fervently hoped Natsu could keep his head, just this once.

He heard Erza before he saw her. The clanking of her armor gave her away, but Leo readied himself just in case it was someone else. As soon as she entered the space, his aura lit her up, revealing King Xeenathen in chains being pulled behind her.

"I'm glad to see you're well, Leo."

"I feel the same." He nodded at the demon behind her. "Is he still alive?"

"Of course. It will be up to the other kings to decide his punishment, not me. The same goes for Rhjothe and Zeref. I take it Rhjothe is alive as well?"

"Yeah, although for a while there I thought the fight wouldn't end until one of us was dead." He got to his feet and grabbed onto the strap around Rhjothe's chest so he could pull him as he followed Erza out. "Have you seen Natsu yet? Or Zeref? I have a feeling he probably has Lucy now."

"I have not looked yet, but I think returning to that blood pool is the best idea right now." She adjusted her grip on her chains so they were over her shoulder. "Since that is where they'll need to finish the ritual, I would bet that's where Zeref will be. We should hurry so we can stop him in time."

"Agreed." The pair took to the air, the kings restraints keeping them just above the ground as they moved. As they got closer to the correct cave, Leo could swear he could still hear the sounds of a fight.

As they entered the appropriate space, they both came to an abrupt halt. Zeref was standing next to the pool of blood with Midnight at his side and Lucy strung up above the pool. The clang of chains and Erza's armor brought Zeref's attention around in their direction. He gave them a smile as Midnight's shadows flared around them both. "You surprised me, Scarlet. I didn't take you for one to break and enter a king's home."

"It is an action I took only due to extenuating circumstances." She released her hold on Xeenathen and Leo subtly let Rhjothe go as well. "What is the meaning of this, King Zeref? Do you understand what you're doing?"

"Of course I do," he said as he fully turned. "Do you not? I wish I could say I'm surprised that you would be opposed to returning to the origin, but I'm not. I would have rather liked to have your support in my endeavors the last few years, but I figured you wouldn't approve of my current goals."

"You are correct," Erza confirmed.

"Why are you in favor?" Leo asked. His instincts were screaming at him to get to Lucy, but he needed to time his movements perfectly. The ritual was nearly complete, going by how much blood was in the pool, and since they'd brought Lucy in here, he suspected that killing her was the goal so he couldn't risk spooking the pair before he was close enough to get her out of harm's way.

When the noises from the other fight suddenly cut off, Leo felt hope stir a little in his chest. Maybe if he could just keep Zeref talking, Natsu could return in time.

He'd brought Natsu here to help him save Lucy, so hopefully he would.

"Well? Why do you want to return to the origin? As king, you have free reign to move among all nine realms. What is the appeal of the origin for you?"

Zeref laughed. "Oh come on, Leo. Surely you're not that dense." When Leo merely raised an eyebrow, the king sighed. "Well, that's disappointing. I thought for sure you of all people would understand. Do you not remember what it was like?

"The origin was a haven for us demons. Able to go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted."

"That was the problem," Leo said. "You demons ruined things for the other races. It was why the realms were separated in the first place."

"But don't you see? That's why I want to go back." Zeref sighed. "I don't expect you to understand, honestly. How could you? As an angel, you've always been able to go wherever you wanted among all the realms. Especially as a member of the Zodiac, you are not bound by the same laws that restrict us to these lowly realms."

"Well that's just not true," Leo said.

"At any rate, the origin will be a new beginning for my people." Zeref took a step back. "They've been bound too long to the tenth circle. The least I can do for them to release them and give them back their freedoms."

"That will destroy the realms," Erza said with a frown. "You know as well as I that the nightmare demons will blame everyone besides those who are really at fault and destroy the other races with no regard for their guilt or innocence."

Zeref shrugged. "Why should I care? They are my people, and I will be their savior. Once they are released, I will not have to worry about anything anymore. Not from any of the other kings, the other demons, the angels, or least of all any of the other races." He smiled softly. "I will be free to do as I please."

Suddenly, a cold wind blasted through the cave and the candles went out. The only light came from Leo and he increased his aura to light up the rest of the space.

Zeref turned with a frown to look behind him. "What on earth are you do-" His eyes widened and he took a step away from the pool, as did Midnight when a large form entered the cave. "Gillax failed…"

The demon that passed through the other doorway growled, his shadows a writhing mess at his feet. Red dripped from almost every inch of his skin, as well as his maw, where he chewed on the remains of a long appendage.

"I've got him," Midnight said as he disappeared into his shadows.

"No, wait!" Zeref tried to stop him, but he was too late. Midnight appeared from his shadows above Natsu, but all the hybrid had to do was swing his arm over his head and Midnight fell to the ground, cut neatly in two.

Zeref took another step back as his shadows ballooned around him.

He was alone now.

* * *

Lucy's head felt too heavy to lift. She could hear voices around her, but they were distant and distorted. There were a few people talking, but she didn't recognize any of them.

No, that wasn't true. She recognized one. _Loke_. She couldn't understand his words, but she was certain it was him. She tried to move, tried to speak, but her body wouldn't accept her commands. Eventually, she was able to convince her eyes to open.

She couldn't see much, since her vision was as fuzzy as her hearing. There was something below her, something very red. As she tried to figure out what it was, she realized she wasn't standing on it. Something was wrapped around her arms, chest and hips, holding her airborne. And she was bleeding. She could see drops of red falling from her arm onto the ground below her. As she watched it for a while before it hit her that it was blood.

Her blood.

Panic filled her as she realized she was in a position exactly like Loke had warned her about. Someone had her, and was collecting her blood so they could combine the realms again. Her panic helped her focus, and she realized there was another voice with Loke that she recognized- Erza. Briefly, she wondered if Natsu was there and decided probably not. With his ban, there was no way she'd get to see him again.

She tipped her head a little, just enough to see around her. There were two people standing in front of her. Considering their skin colors and wings, she guessed they weren't human. If demons had her…

One of the people had their hands folded behind their back, and as they adjusted their weight from foot to the other, she saw the glint of metal.

They had a knife.

Lucy's heart rate increased even more. She was stuck, too disoriented to do anything to help herself, and even though Loke and Erza were there, she didn't think they could get to her in time. She wondered if she could let them know one of the bad guys had a knife and then decided that was a bad idea. No doubt Loke had a plan and was working on saving her. If she was patient, she was sure she would be alright.

A loud noise behind her had her hair standing on end and caused the others to fall silent. The two in front of her instantly tensed and turned, as though preparing to fight. "I've got him," one said just before he disappeared.

"No, wait!" the other cried. A moment later, there was a squishy thud behind her, and then the other demon moved farther away from her. With a sinking feeling, she closed her eyes.

Whatever was behind her, she knew she didn't want to see it.

It was going to get her killed, she was certain.

* * *

The desire to kill had never been more all consuming. His first prey had not gone down easy, but now that he was done, all Natsu wanted was to keep going. His desire to bathe in another's blood was so intense, he didn't even feel his injuries. With Gillax's arm still in his mouth, he began to move, heading towards the other voices he could hear nearby.

His magic preceded him in an icy blast that put out the lights around the cave. A moment later, though, another light increased, illuminating the entire space. He could sense their fear, all of it, as he growled.

"I've got him," one of the closer two said and then he sank into the darkness.

The other shouted something, but Natsu didn't hear what it was. He could sense the first moving, and as he appeared above him, Natsu swung his claws over his head with little effort. When the corpse landed in front of him, he didn't even look at it, annoyed that the foe had been so easy to defeat. He needed another like the first. Another _real_ fight.

The other demon moved away from him, his own shadows gathered around him. Natsu recognized him, and the more he remembered, the more angry he grew.

That demon was the one who had ruined everything.

That was the one who had taken what was his.

That was the one he needed to kill.

And he was strong, so it was going to be a _good_ fight.

He snarled and then sent a blast of black fire towards the demon, causing him to sink into himself to dodge the spell. A few more blasts barely missed the person hanging from the ceiling, but managed to tag the other demon who cursed before dodging across the space.

"Well, aren't you going to stop him?" the demon cried.

It was then that Natsu remembered there were others in the cave. The glowing one, and the one in the armor. He knew them too, but he was less angry with them.

Still, they were worthy opponents. Once he was done with his current fight, he would go after them.

He blasted the first demon once more as he dropped his trophy, waiting for a moment to see if the others would try to help.

"It is not my place to interfere," the armored demon said. "As he no longer has any contracts, I have no jurisdiction over him."

"Me either," Leo said.

"Isn't he your friend? Wouldn't you like to stop him before he gets himself hurt?"

"Pretty sure we're too late for that," the angel said. That's right, the glowing one was an angel Natsu finally remembered.

The hybrid sank into his shadows, subtly moving forward. He wondered if perhaps he'd have to chase his prey elsewhere to get him to fight. While he wasn't opposed to fighting them all, something held him back. Something about this space was distracting him. He wan't usually one to think so much about a fight, but in here… there was something…

Something that had him rethinking just charging his foe. But what?

Part of his attention veered off and finally studied the other person in the room. They were bleeding and thin, barely giving off any magical print, which is why he hadn't noticed them before. Even so… something about them drew Natsu in, so much so that he completely forgot about the others in the room. As he stepped forward, a low noise escaped him, alerting the others to his movements.

"Natsu, no!" the angel cried.

Natsu didn't notice the response of the others as the person's head suddenly lifted and then sought him out. Warm brown eyes grew impossibly wide as they locked with his and ensnared him.

This was who he'd been searching for…

"Natsu…" The name on her lips was like a melody, making him both completely calm and intensely focused. Tears filled her eyes and then fell as Natsu's entire being focused on the human before him, his inner dragon managing to break through and remind him who he was.

Who she was…

As the anger in his soul began to ease, he moved forward, determined to release her from her bonds.

As Lucy began to smile at him, there was the sound of something flying through the air, and then her head jerked. Her eyes widened and then blood suddenly shot out of her mouth as the blade Zeref had been hiding ripped through the front of her neck. The rack she was attached too suddenly tripped and her blood flowed in earnest towards the ground below her.

Directly into the pool of blood.

* * *

"_NO!"_ Leo was so shocked, he wasn't able to move in time.

For a long moment, he'd been scared Natsu would attack Lucy, but somehow, he'd known who she was. In that moment their eyes had met, his had softened, and Leo had known that even his demon side had acknowledged Lucy as someone to protect. His relief had been so strong, he'd completely forgotten the other danger in the room.

He hadn't even seen the blade.

As Lucy's blood began to fall in earnest, Leo's only thought was that he had failed.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Suddenly, everything around him froze. The shadows around Zeref, the blood falling from Lucy's neck, the black fire and shadows around Natsu's body, everything. A blast of heat shot through the cave, nearly knocking Leo to his feet, but he managed to keep himself upright as magic began to swirl around Natsu in a vortex of black and red.

"Natsu!" Leo called the hybrid's name, but those eyes didn't turn his way. They were so desolate, so sad, but also intensely focused on Lucy. Runes began to appear at Natsu's feet, three layers of them in the air, and four along the ground. The more runes that appeared, the faster the magic spun. They were halfway complete before Leo realized what he was doing.

"Natsu, don't! That will kill you!"

Still, those glowing eyes refused to look his way. A golden ring appeared around him, one for a completely different spell Leo was sure, and floated just below his shoulders.

"Natsu, please don't do it, we can still save her!" His healing magic wasn't perfect, but he could do enough to save Lucy's life. Deciding that action would be his best bet to convince Natsu, he moved forward to get to Lucy but was stopped. Something kept his feet stuck to the ground.

"Natsu, let me go, we can still save her! Together!"

As the runes finished, Natsu reached a wing forward. The hook on the end just barely reached Lucy from where he was. As he softly ran it down Lucy's cheek, catching the tear that threatened to fall, Natsu finally turned Leo's way.

_Save her,_ came the voice in Leo's head. It was deep and gravelly, but it was Natsu's. _Protect her better this time. Do what I can't, so that she can live a better life than I could give her._

Suddenly, all that magic, all that heat, shot inward, disappearing for a long moment in the space where Natsu stood.

"No!" Leo cried.

And then there was an explosion.

* * *

**For all of you that keep telling me that I need to stop all these cliffhangers… I'm sorry, I just can't do it. They're my favorite thing to write.**

**Please forgive me.**


	79. Chapter 79

**Seven days guys. Seven days and if this little one isn't out on her own, I'll be making her come out. **

**Good news for you guys, that means that this story will be done soon! Well, both good and bad I suppose. I'm guessing some of you will miss it when it is gone, but I promise I have at least one more in the works for this site. But don't let me keep you.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"_Lucy."_

"_Mmhm?"_

_Loke sighed. "You've been staring at the wall for almost fifteen minutes now."_

_Lucy blinked a few times. "I'm sorry. I guess I didn't realize."_

"_It's okay." He reached over and warmed up her tea once more for her. "What were you thinking about?"_

_Her cheeks began to heat, and she avoided his gaze. "Nothing."_

"_I don't believe that for a second. Tell me." Loke scrunched up his nose. "Unless it's dirty stuff. Please don't make me listen to that."_

"_No no, it's nothing like that." She fiddled with the spoon in her tea for a little while before she responded. "I was just thinking about Natsu."_

_Loke sighed. "Are you sure that's the best idea? How are you supposed to be getting over him if you keep thinking about him?"_

"_I wasn't just idling thinking," she said defensively. "I was just wondering what would have happened to us."_

"_You mean if he'd been allowed to stay?"_

"_Yeah." Lucy pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. "I would have aged, and I don't know how long demons live, but I have a feeling it's a lot longer than the seventy years or so I've got left." She finally met his eyes. "Do you know?"_

_Loke leaned back and crossed his arms. "I've really only heard about it. I know a few dragons who've lost their mates, but I've never been around right after it happened, so I don't know first hand how bad it can be. _

"_From what I understand, though, it ruins them. Their mate is their entire world, and losing them makes life not worth living anymore. They can continue on, of course, but nothing is ever the same for the dragon again. It's like they're still alive, but what makes their heart beat is just gone."_

_Lucy nodded. "So it's better that we're separated now. Probably would have been better that we'd never met at all."_

"_Oh no, princess." Leo leaned forward and grabbed both of her hands as Lucy's eyes filled with tears. "Never think that."_

"_But-"_

"Never _think that," he said again. "I haven't met a dragon yet who regretted meeting their mate, no matter how long they had with them. I can assure you, no matter how Natsu would have handled losing you, he wouldn't have either. And even though you only had a little while together, I can guarantee he doesn't now." Lucy nodded a little, but couldn't stop the tears as they began to fall in earnest. Loke moved forward and put his arm around her as she cried, remaining silent as she worked through the pain._

_When Lucy's tears finally stopped a while later, she looked up at Loke with a small smile. "He never would have let you take him if he hadn't been sleeping, huh?"_

"_I wouldn't have even _considered _trying," Leo said fervently. "I have no doubt he would have tried to kill me, and I'm not sure I could beat a bonded dragon, especially one with demon blood. _

"_If both halves of him had figured things out and bonded to you, I'm not sure there's a force in all the realms that could have taken him away from you, or vice versa."_

* * *

When the air finally settled, Leo jumped to his feet to look around. As he suspected, everything was back in its place, from the not-quite-full pool of blood to the softly glowing candles.

_Damn him!_ Leo's hands dug into his mane. _Damn him, damn him, damn him!_ "We could have figured it out," he whispered. "We could have saved her together, you idiot, what were you thinking?!"

Messing with time was a dangerous and mostly forbidden use of magic among the magical races. There were some spells that only made it seem like you were moving forward in time, but really just froze you in place until you reached the target moment. There were some spells that could make it seem like you moved backward, but only allowed you to revisit a memory, not actually move you through time.

The spell Natsu had used had been nothing like those.

He had _actually _turned back the clock. Looking around, Leo couldn't be sure how far back he'd gone, but he'd wager it wasn't more than an hour or so. Natsu was young, but not so young that his remaining life force would generate more than a day at most, and that much time would be a waste. Added to that, he'd used more than just the time reversal spell, so his reserves had been pretty drained.

He'd frozen time, to stop Lucy from dying, and then taken Leo out of it, both of which would require a massive amount of magic to achieve. He'd probably used magic earlier when he'd been fighting the researcher and there was no telling how much he'd used destroying Zeref's personal realm. With all that, there was no way for him to figure out how far back he'd gone. And unfortunately, it was completely silent around him so he had no idea if any of them had even made it to the basement yet.

Leo allowed his legs to fold under him as he dropped to his knees. _Damn him_, he thought again. He rubbed his face with his hands as he took a moment to mourn his lost comrade. Pausing time might have been enough, if he'd just let Leo help him. While his healing magic wasn't as good as Wendy's, he could have patched Lucy up enough to save her life and then got her out of harm's way.

_Or could he?_

Zeref was still there, and as strong as he was, with the powers he possessed, he would have been hard to beat, but surely they could have figured it out. Natsu had taken out Midnight with almost no effort! Surely he could have taken out his brother, too.

_Could he have done it in time?_

That was a good question, one that Leo wished he could answer. As much as he didn't like it, hated it even, Natsu might have made the right choice.

The only choice.

Leo wondered if Natsu had considered his options. Had he analyzed the situation before acting, or had he made the last ditch effort his first plan? And how much of him had acted on the plan? Considering his form, the demon had been involved in the decision, but had the dragon half of Natsu been aware, too? Had Leo been right, and _all_ of Natsu had bonded to Lucy?

He didn't have any of those answers, probably never would, but he did have one thing- another chance to save Lucy.

And he had to succeed this time.

With a brief prayer to the gods, he stood again and flew off to search the tunnels. The cave Natsu had been fighting in was closest, so he'd try there first to see if any of them had even made it into the labyrinth yet.

As he entered the space, he was almost relieved not to see anyone there. If Lucy was still strapped down to the table in the lab, it would probably be easier than he anticipated to get her out of there.

When he finally heard a noise, he nearly jumped out of his skin. The complete silence had worried him at first, but he'd thought it was just a side effect of the spell. He spun around, and found that he'd just been looking at the wrong portion of the cave. Natsu and Gillax _were_ there, fighting against one of the walls, although it wasn't much of a fight.

Now that he was really looking, he could see blood on the ground- a lot of blood. It had dripped and splashed all over, some even on the walls. Looking at the pair, he could see that both had been pretty badly hurt in their fight, but now it was just a slaughter. Leo wasn't sure the other demon was even still alive, but Natsu's demon side didn't care. He was still slashing with his claws, cutting Gillax into little pieces that flew across the space and bounced off the walls. It churned Leo's stomach to watch.

The demon was definitely as terrifying as Virgo and Taurus had told him. If he'd seen this kind of thing prior to looking for Natsu in his brother's other realm, he's not sure if he would have had it in him to face the thing. Natsu's eyes were crazed, the bloodlust having completely taken him over.

Leo didn't want to watch as Natsu snatched up an arm and began to gnaw on it- this wasn't a side of Natsu he wanted to know. He moved to leave, deciding he should head to the other cave so he could plan his move there. As he turned, he didn't see the stalagmite that was behind him. As he passed through, a rock knocked loose and fell. As it clattered to the ground, Natsu whipped around and stared hard into the darkness in Leo's direction.

The angel held his breath. The hybrid shouldn't be able to see him out of time as he was, but perhaps since he'd cast the spell, he could? And how had he even managed to knock that rock over? He shouldn't be able to interact with anything! Had it been a fluke?

The demon lowered himself to all fours, that arm still in his mouth, and began to sniff the air. His wings vibrated as he sought the source of the noise, but apparently found nothing. He perked up and then looked towards the cave entrance, where he could apparently hear the others in the cave.

That was Leo's cue to get moving. He dashed out of the cave, arriving in the other cave just as Zeref claimed he was only trying to free his people and give them a new start. Everything was still quiet, but at least he could hear.

Leo moved to float near Lucy. As he checked her over, he realized that she was awake. Her eyes were barely open, staring below her as her neck hung loose, but she was definitely awake. She tipped her head a little towards Zeref and Midnight, and after a moment, Leo could see the vein in her neck begin to pulse faster. When he looked, he saw what must have worried her- Zeref was holding a knife.

The very knife that was going to kill her.

He wished he could comfort her, but he had to wait before he revealed himself. He had to time it right, so he didn't mess with the time flow too much. If he appeared too soon, he could create catastrophic damage to the stream. Time slowed to a crawl as he watched the others talk and then react to Natsu's entrance. He turned away as Midnight disappeared, and focused on Zeref. He was the threat to Lucy, so he was the one that needed to be stopped.

Should he take the knife? Should he appear next to Zeref and kill him? Should he grab Lucy and teleport them? As he considered his options, he noticed something above them. It was hard to see, but he could have sworn there were faint markings on the stone. Natsu's fire blasted next to him, but he didn't pay any attention as he realized the marks were Virgo's runes. She was up there, waiting for a moment to strike and get Lucy back. Why hadn't she done something the first time?

Leo looked at Zeref and saw the moment he decided to finish Lucy off. Lucy was looking through him now, staring at Natsu. Leo prepared himself. He had to catch the knife before it hit Lucy, and then get her out before Natsu released the explosion he was going to create. Erza would be in the blast zone as well, but he would just have to hope that she could keep herself safe.

As the knife flew through the air, he put out his hand and forced himself back into the time stream. An ear popping sound temporarily disoriented him, but not enough to stop him from catching the knife. As he appeared next to Lucy, the others in the room were momentarily distracted, just enough that as Natsu started his spell, they were all knocked off their feet.

Lucy gasped as she realized he was next to her. "Loke-"

"We only have a moment, Lucy. I'll explain later." He used his magic to dissolved the restraints holding her up and caught her as the runes above him glowed and Virgo appeared.

"Leo, how did you-"

"Later. Take her." With no other words, Leo changed course and forced Lucy into Virgo's arms before pushing them towards the ceiling. Virgo grabbed the blonde and then disappeared into the rock, but not before Leo caught the terrified, yearning look in Lucy's eyes as she looked at Natsu.

The heat around them was intense, but Leo didn't let it slow him down. He knew what was coming, so he dashed over to Erza and put up a shield.

"What is happening?!"

Leo didn't answer as runes he hadn't noticed the first time formed around Zeref's feet. The king made an effort to hide in his shadows, but it seemed he was unable to. Fear widened his eyes as he tried to get away, but couldn't move from where he was standing. Leo saw Natsu still staring at the ceiling where Lucy had disappeared as Zeref continued to struggle.

Natsu looked Leo's way, his glowing eyes soft, and smiled, somehow giving him a smile that matched those he could give in his human form.

_Thank you, Leo._

And then the magic and heat shot back to Natsu, leaving the cave silent and motionless for one long moment before the explosion happened once more.

* * *

When Lucy woke again, she found that she was crying. Her face was wet, her nose was stuffed, and her pillow felt more like a puddle than a pillow. She opened her eyes and saw that her lamp was glowing softly next to her, lighting up the little dragon statue sitting next to it. She wiped her face with her hands and then sat up to find a tissue.

One appeared in her face and Lucy finally noticed that she wasn't alone.

"I figured you might need these," Erza said, a box of tissues in her other hand.

"Thank you…" Lucy took the offered tissue and cleaned her face. After a few more tissues, her face was dry and she could breathe again. After tossing them in the nearby trash can, she finally turned back to Erza. "What are you doing here?"

"Leo thought you might appreciate having someone around if you woke while he was returning your friends to their homes. Virgo is assisting, so I offered to stay here with you."

"Oh. Well, thank you." She looked down and fiddled with a loose string on the edge of her blanket.

"Lucy."

Lucy refused to look up, but when Erza said her name again, she whispered, "What?"

"I know you have questions. Ask them."

Lucy reached out blindly and grabbed the statue Natsu had given her, moving it to sit on her lap so she could stare at it. "Who had me?" she asked eventually.

"King Zeref, one of the demon kings. He plotted with two others to kidnap you and use your blood to bring about the return of the origin, which Leo tells me you know about. We were able to stop them, though. Kings Xeenathen and Rhjothe are currently being sentenced by the remaining kings and Zeref is, well… we think he's dead."

"You think?"

"We believe Natsu killed him, when he…"

Lucy squeezed her eyes closed and willed herself not to cry. "He sacrificed himself, didn't he?"

"He did. The best I can tell from what I saw, he may have used a time altering spell, which would have used his life force, effectively killing him."

"Why would he do that?" Lucy whispered.

"My best guess is you died the first time through." Lucy's head snapped up, shocked, and Erza described what she had seen. "With Leo popping up as he did next to you, and his other body disappearing the way it did, I believe you died, and Natsu reversed time and pulled Leo out of the time stream so that he could reenter at the appropriate moment to save your life. With the way he caught that knife before it got to you, I don't see any other explanation for Natsu's actions."

Erza glanced over at the door, obviously hearing a noise that Lucy did not, and rose to her feet. "I would ask Leo if you want the whole story. He has not told me what happened yet, although that will be remedied shortly."

As Erza moved towards the door, Lucy whispered, stopping her in her tracks.

"Thank you."

The demon looked over her shoulder. "There is no need to thank me."

"But there is." Lucy lifted her head so she could look at the demon, that little dragon clutched in her hands. "I remember what you did. With Natsu's gift and my memories."

Surprise momentarily froze Erza to the spot, but she quickly shook it off and then continued to leave the room, a small smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I know what you're talking about."


	80. Chapter 80

**Just in case anyone is worried, I feel like I should clarify. My possible induction on Friday is not because of my health or safety (although my last one I was induced because of high blood pressure, and everything was fine.) There are a myriad of reasons for the decision, but it mostly boils down to my desire to not saddle her with a Christmas birthday, our limited available options for sitting for our son, and she's honestly just ready to come out. So in case anyone was worried about my health, there's no need to fear. The baby and I are in no danger, we're just ready for her to be here.**

**Now for the news that is both awesome and not so great: there is only one chapter of this story left. It is trending to be one of the longer ones, but I want to keep it all together so I will not be trying to break it up. I'm thinking Wednesday it will be finished and posted, but at the latest, Thursday it will be up. Along with the final chapter, I will be posting a chunk from my next story, which I am tentatively calling 'An Unusual Reminder,' so be on the look out for that. I can't wait for your guys' thoughts on this and the last chapter, so I'll let you get to it.**

**And in case it isn't clear, the underlined parts are the article Lucy is writing, amid memories from her travels with Natsu.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.**

* * *

Lucy pushed aside her notebooks and pulled her laptop forward. She just had to get it written. One more article, and she would be finished writing about her adventures with Natsu. One more article, and she could finally, _actually_ work on moving on. With a couple of deep breaths, she placed her fingers on the keys and started to write.

Last October, I was given a unique opportunity that I was unexpectedly able to accept. I was able to forgo my work on this magazine as a fashion writer and instead write about my adventures with an impulsive, energetic, sweet man who I was friends with for a short time in my childhood. He was travelling the world, looking for a place to settle down, and he invited me to join him. By accepting, I had one of the best experiences of my life.

I heard about Japan, where vendors line the street, crowds fill the buildings, and seafood is as varied as the people who visit.

_"What are you doing back already?" Lucy asked as she joined Natsu on the sidewalk._

_Natsu shrugged. "Happy wasn't impressed with the food. He said seafood isn't quite the same as fish and after the live octopus, he decided he'd had enough. And while it's interesting over there, it's also very loud, and it was hard on my ears."_

…

_Natsu stood and dug into his pocket, pulling out a small brown bag. He took the hand closest to him and closed her fingers around it. "Here. I got you something."_

_"You… got me something? Why?"_

_"I missed having you around," he answered with a shrug. "Plus, that's what you humans do, get souvenirs when you go on trips. I didn't even need to do any research to figure that out. Every other shop over there boasted that they had the greatest souvenirs in the country. Not that I agreed, but I thought you'd like something so I got you that."_

I was able to ski the slopes of Aspen, where I taught my friend the basics and up so that he would not slide down the hills on his backside. I was also briefly lost, caught in a snowstorm, and spent a night in the frozen wasteland that, come morning, revealed the most beautiful sight I've ever seen with my own eyes.

_Natsu grinned as he put on his own skis. "The bunny hill sounds lame, let's do the black diamond!"_

_Lucy blinked at him before she squinted. "You watched videos last night, didn't you?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"So you understand that the black diamond is the hardest slope?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"Natsu, doing that one first, when you don't even know how to move around in skis, is a terrible idea."_

_"Of course it's not! Come on, it'll be fun! It's not like it'll kill me. Where's your adventuring spirit?"_

_Lucy sighed as she watched him awkwardly waddle his way in his skis towards the black diamond sign. "Natsu, please at least let me teach you-"_

_"See you at the bottom, Luce!" Natsu yelled as he pushed himself over the edge._

_"- how to stop," she finished, moving forward to watch his descent. Almost immediately, he lost his balance and began rolling head over heels. As he hit a short flat patch, he managed to get his feet under him, but he wobbled as his skis continued to slide._

_"Luce!" he hollered as his arms pinwheeled. "Luce! I don't know how to-" He was cut off as his skis tipped and he began sliding down again. "-STOOOOP!"_

_Lucy sighed once more as she moved forward and slowly started to follow the half dragon down the mountain. She hadn't realized he was going to be so difficult about learning, or she would have practiced with him before they left their room._

…

_"Oh come on, Lucy, we went on the Black Diamond yesterday. That's old news! The guy at the lodge said there are paths all over the mountain that we can go on, so let's go find one! It'll be an adventure!"_

_Lucy sighed. "Natsu, I'm not so sure-"_

_"You're never sure, Lucy," he whined. "Come on, with me there, you have nothing to worry about! Even if there's an avalanche or a ravine or anything, I can get you out! You'll be perfectly safe!"_

_Lucy covered her face with a gloved hand as Natsu leaned down once more, with his pouty lips and big puppy dog eyes, right in her face. "You're not going to leave me alone until I say yes, are you?" Natsu shook his head, his lip seeming to stick out even further. She sighed, causing him to hoot and pump his fist._

_"This is going to be awesome, Luce, I'm all fired up! Come on! I wanna go this way!"_

…

_Lucy glared at him, before she sat next to the fire. She scooted close, willing her limbs to thaw out. As she visibly shivered, Natsu stood from his spot to come to sit behind her and pulled her into his arms. "Natsu… what are you doing?"_

_"Trying to keep you warm, silly." He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her torso. "You're shivering. I can't have you freezing to death, can I?"_

_Lucy didn't even consider fighting his embrace as his warmth instantly enveloped her. Instead, she sighed and snuggled closer to him as the cold was slowly chased away._

_As she watched the fire crackle, browning the meat suspended above the flames and warming her toes, she decided that getting lost wasn't so bad if you did it with the right person._

…

_Lucy forgot all about her desire to pee as she moved to join him in the open air. With the bright sun, she regretted not putting on her sunglasses right away. As she blinked through the brightness, she found herself in awe of their surroundings._

_Everything was white. Every mountain and hill top, every tree, every plant, even the pines that were scattered around them were so covered in snow that their true colors barely showed through. "Wow," she whispered._

_"I know. I'm really sorry-"_

_"This is amazing, Natsu." Natsu stopped as he looked her way, only to be floored by the smile that now dominated her face._

_Lucy couldn't remember ever seeing anything so beautiful. Sure, the circumstances that had gotten them there weren't ideal, but without them, she never would have seen this sight. This beautiful, untouched, breathtaking sight. She looked his way, unable to hide how enthused she was about being there. "Thank you, Natsu. This trip was a great idea. I'm really glad that you brought me."_

I visited the Amazon, and saw things that scientists would argue were impossible to behold. Trees and creatures I've never even heard of, coexisting in perfect harmony, far away from human influence.

_There was a pop and a large lizard fell to the ground near the tree before slinking off. Lucy wrapped her arms around herself and moved closer to the real Natsu. "What was that?"_

_"Mimic. They're a type of demon, but they're not particularly strong. I'll stick closer so you don't run into any more."_

_"Any more? How do you know there will be more?"_

_"Because we're almost there," he answered with a grin. "He kind of spoiled the surprise, though. I found a portal that connects this world to the demon realms. It's not easy to get through, not fully anyway, but I can use it to get you into them in a way that will allow you to visit without being in danger."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"Basically, you visit the realms as a mirage. Your body stays here and you can't interact with anything, but you can see what they look like."_

_"If it's so hard to get through, how did that lizard one get here?"_

_"Not through there. He no doubt felt the energy from it and came here to settle in this world. The guardian in the barrier between worlds will no doubt come through and collect him at some point. That's part of the reason for these in the other realms. The demons miss the feel of home and seek them out, making them easier to catch and return."_

_They entered a small clearing, and found themselves surrounded by strangely colored animals. There were a pair of monkeys low in the tree, both a strange red shade with solid white eyes. They screeched at the pair and then raced up the tree. Small bugs and butterflies in varying shades of red, yellow and orange floated through the air, making noises much louder than their bodies would suggest capable. A black lizard poked out from behind a blood red leaf and shot its tongue out several feet, pulling many of those bugs back into its mouth._

_Lucy's mouth fell open as she realized the trees were also strange. They were a mix of red, black and a sooty gray color. When had the colors changed?_

_"The portal affects the area around it a little bit, too, but don't worry. Regular humans can't get in here so it's not in danger of being found." He took her hand and pulled her towards a mostly obscured cave. "You ready?"_

_Lucy gulped, not at all sure, but nodded her head anyway. "Sure."_

_With a grin, Natsu pulled her forward and they entered the cave._

This chance was cut unexpectedly short, and I'm afraid my friend has moved on to bigger and better things, I'm sure. He was forced to leave early from my abode and it will most likely be some time before he is able to return for a visit, but I don't mind.

I had some of the most fun, and most extraordinary travels, of my life while he was here. I know that I will always remember the fun we had, the laughs we shared, the memories we made, because that was the most important part for me on those travels.

While we explored and sought out a place of residence for him, saw incredible, unbelievable sights, and visited places I'll likely never go again, the one thing I took from the trip was that I am incredibly lucky.

Incredibly lucky to have a friend so amazing. Not because he paid for me to travel the world, but because of who he is.

Incredibly lucky that I was able to make such amazing memories. When I close my eyes, I can still see the smile on his face the first time he was able to stop on his skis without falling, the vast, white mountain landscape after a fresh snow, and the trees that towered over us in the jungle that I swore reached to the sky.

Incredibly lucky that I was able to spend time with someone who helped me grow as a person. Who helped me to learn what was important in life. Who helped me heal from past wounds and figure out how to move on. Who taught me what it means to be a great person and friend.

Who taught me how to love, and what it truly means to be loved in return.

_When Lucy's tears finally stopped a while later, she looked up at Loke with a small smile. "He never would have let you take him if he hadn't been sleeping, huh?"_

"_I wouldn't have even _considered _trying," Leo said fervently. "I have no doubt he would have tried to kill me, and I'm not sure I could beat a bonded dragon, especially one with demon blood._

"_If both halves of him had figured things out and bonded to you, I'm not sure there's a force in all the realms that could have taken him away from you, or vice versa."_

_... _

_Lucy kept her eyes on Natsu as Loke shoved her into someone's arms._

_She knew it would be the last time she would see him. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew that this would be her last glimpse of the man she loved, the half dragon half demon who had completely stolen her heart._

_Those glowing eyes blazed brightly out of his black scaled face as he watched her disappear, seemingly untouched by the vortex of magic swirling around him._

I love you, Luce_, came the gruff whisper in her head. The words kept her warm as she became surrounded by cold ground on every side._

...

"_Tell me the truth," Lucy said. "Why did he sacrifice himself?"_

_Loke frowned. "I told you, he did it to save you."_

"_WHY?" she asked again. "You're my guardian angel, right? Why did _he _have to save me?"_

_A tick started in Leo's jaw. "Because I failed."_

_Lucy's eyes widened. "Erza was right then. I died."_

"_No, you didn't. Natsu froze time before that happened. If he hadn't, though, I'm fairly certain that you would have."_

_Anger filled Lucy so quickly that she couldn't stop herself from reaching out and slapping Loke across the face. "You should have saved me," she choked out. "It was your _job_. If you had just done it right, he wouldn't have felt obligated to sacrifice himself and save my life. It's because you failed that he's dead."_

_Loke didn't argue, he just continued to watch her with that same apologetic stare._

"_Why…" she whispered as she covered her face with her hands. "Why didn't he just let me go? It wasn't his job to protect me. It wasn't his obligation to give up his life to protect the realms."_

_"Stop using those words- his job, his obligation. That's not why he did what he did,"__ Loke said. "You know that, Lucy."_

"_I don't know anything," she hissed._

_Loke came over and kneeled next to her, taking her hands in his so she was forced to look his way. "He didn't save you because of the realms or because I failed or because he felt any sort of obligation."_

_Lucy tried to pull away. She didn't want to hear the words, because she knew they would break her all over again._

"_Lucy, he saved you because he wanted to. He saved you because the thought of you not existing, even if he couldn't see you again, was too much for him._

"_He saved you because he loved you."_

I won't ever forget him, whether I see him again or not. Maybe he'll move on to bigger and better things. In fact, I hope he does. He deserves that. To live a long, happy, full life.

In the meantime, I'll still be here. Writing for this magazine, and sharing the many, wonderful things he taught me.

Because everyone should know what Natsu Dragneel has done for me.

* * *

Mira looked up, a smile on her face. "Lucy, this is amazing. I think this is a great way to wrap up your series." She set aside the pages and folded her hands as she studied the blonde. "Are you sure it's over?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. He's gone and I think I've had enough travelling for a while."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. I had a lot of good feedback about your articles. Maybe you should consider writing something else for the magazine. We could collaborate a bit and see if there's something else you could work on. How does that sound?"

Lucy shook her head. "I'm good. I'd like everything to just go back to normal, if that's okay with you."

"Alright, if you insist."

"I do. Thanks Mira." Before Lucy could escape, Mira asked her one more question.

"So how long has it been since you heard from him? Is there a chance that he might still come back?"

"I'm not sure how long it's been, but I'm sure he won't be coming back." She gave Mira one more smile and then returned to her desk. She managed not to look at the little dragon next to her computer monitor, but she did look up at the calendar.

As she crossed off the date, she mentally did the math.

_Twenty three days._

Twenty three days without Natsu Dragneel in her life.

And she only had a lifetime to go.


	81. Chapter 81

**I'm just going to let you guys get to it. When you're done, there's a note and snip-it of my next story at the end.**

**For one last time (for a while), thanks for all the love guys, and happy reading.**

* * *

As Leo entered the angel king's castle, a booming voice called out to him. "You finally made it!"

"I apologize, sir. It took longer than I anticipated to extract myself from my work." Leo moved forward into the room, passed the columns and the colorful lights, until he made it to his king's chair, where the king sat waiting. "I'll do my best to be more punctual next time."

"Your cover is more important than being here on time, Leo, so do not worry." He stood and gestured at the angel to join him as he began to walk. Leo didn't even try to keep up with the king's long stride. He popped open his wings and followed the king through the air. "How is the Heartfilia heir?"

"She's doing okay. She's still upset, of course, but she's working through it."

"That's good to hear. I've never met a Heartfilia yet who wasn't strong enough to survive hardship. I am glad to hear that the newest one is just as strong as the others."

"I sometimes think she's even stronger than them all, even the first."

The king laughed as he opened a door and led Leo into a room he'd never been in before. "If that is true, then there is not a problem in all the realms that is too big for her to survive."

Leo merely nodded as he studied the space around him. It reminded him a little of the lab under Zeref's castle, but without the cold, impersonal environment. There were several angels running around, taking care of animals in cages, brewing in large cauldrons, and doing a variety of other tasks. "Why are we in here, sir?"

The king paused a moment to study the room before responding. "Tell me, Leo, when is the human holiday about love due again?"

"Uh, Valentine's day? In this realm, a few hours. It's tomorrow for the human realm."

"Perfect." He flagged down one of the angels and spoke quietly to them. When he was done, the angel's eyes were wide and they flew off quickly, calling to the others to join them.

"Sir?"

"I have a gift for Lucy," he said as he led the way towards the far end of the room. A large curtain hung across part of the wall, hiding it from view. "I've been working with a few of the Zodiac, as well as the other angels in here, to make sure it would be ready in time. A few hours will be cutting it close, but I have been assured that we can make that deadline."

"What do you mean the Zodiac have been helping? I wasn't told about anything."

"Lucy Heartfilia was your priority- this project was theirs. It is a gift, from me and from the Zodiac, as a way to apologize for our blunders and to hopefully make up for the pain that has been caused in the last few months."

"What have you been working on that you think will make up for that?" Leo asked.

The king stopped next to the curtain, reached out for a long rope at the end, and pulled. When Leo's mouth fell open, the king laughed at his shock. "Do you think she will like it?"

"Sir… I don't understand. How-"

"Worry not, Leo the Lion. With the work we've been doing, this will not only make Miss Hearfilia happy, it will ensure that she is even safer than she is now."

Leo stared at the glass for a long time before he looked up at his king.

It was dangerous. It was surprising.

It was impossible.

"How?" he asked, and his king finally explained.

* * *

"So we're still doing dinner tonight, right?" Levy asked as she cleaned up her lunch.

"I have no other plans," Cana said.

"Me either," Juvia was quick to add.

When they all looked at Lucy, she raised an eyebrow at them. "Of course I'm available. Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"We weren't sure if you were secretly dating anyone again," Levy said with a shrug. "Just wanted to make sure."

"Well I know at least two of you are, so why don't you guys have plans?"

"Gajeel is working tonight."

"Gray is busy."

Both Juvia and Levy spoke quickly, their pinkening cheeks giving them away.

Lucy sighed. "Guys, seriously, you don't need to tiptoe around me. It's Valentine's Day, you should be doing something with your boyfriends."

"Gajeel really is working tonight," Levy argued. When Lucy just continued to stare at her, she finally caved. "Fine. He's off at five, but I told him we had plans together."

"Well, you don't anymore," Lucy said as she picked up her lunchbox and began to leave. "I'm staying in and I'm going to have some alcohol, chocolate, and a good movie."

They all quickly grabbed their things and followed Lucy out of the break room. Juvia was the first to catch up. "Lucy, honestly, Gray and I-"

"Have plans this weekend, I know," Lucy finished for her. She held the door as the other two piled into the elevator and then pushed the button for their floor. "So if he's actually busy, spend the night planning something special. If he's not, start your weekend early."

Cana groaned. "Lucy, don't make me spend this stupid holiday alone."

"You won't be," Lucy said as she watched the numbers over the door change. "I called Bacchus last night and he's free."

Cana blinked, surprised. "How did you-"

"I know your phone password, and I stole his number last week at Fairy Tail while you were in the bathroom." The door opened and Lucy marched out, the other three following behind her in a chorus of excuses and whining.

Lucy finally stopped them when she reached her cubicle. "Enough!"

"Lu-"

"Don't Lu me," Lucy snapped. "Guys, I am fine. Or at least I will be with a little more time, alright? Tonight will be difficult, but I will get through it. I need you guys to stop walking on eggshells around me so I can work on getting better. Things can't go back to normal if you guys keep avoiding talking about guys. I know you're dating people, so stop trying to hide it. I won't break just because you mentioned having a date or great sex or something. Got it?" Lucy set down her lunch box and put her hands on her hips. "I just want things to go back to normal. Please."

They all nodded, obviously ashamed of themselves. "If that's what you want," Juvia said.

"It is," Lucy insisted. "Now I have to get back to-"

"Lucy Heartfilia?" A man in polo and khakis appeared next to the others with a small vase of flowers in his hands. "I was told this was her cubicle."

"That's me," Lucy said. The man held out a small device and asked her to sign it before handing her the vase of yellow roses and leaving.

"Who are they from?" Cana asked, trying to swipe the card, but Lucy grabbed it first.

"Don't get any ideas," Lucy said. "Yellow roses are for friendship." After she set down the vase, she opened the card, certain she already knew who had sent them. "It's from Loke, of course."

"What the hell, he didn't send me any," Cana said.

"Or me," Levy added with a frown.

Juvia only smiled and rolled her eyes. "What does it say?"

"He wishes me a good Valentine's Day, and says he's going to swing by tonight with dinner for me." Lucy smiled a little at how he'd signed it 'Love, Leo.' In an effort to maintain his secret, he'd asked that she continue to only call him Loke, but it seemed that he held himself to no such standards. "He's just trying to be nice because of what happened."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Cana said with a wave of her hand. "He's always had a thing for you, don't even try to deny it."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her friend, but didn't comment further. "Can you guys go away now? You have work to do, too."

When they had all headed for their desks, where she knew they had their own flowers waiting for them, she turned back towards the roses. They were beautiful, all of them perfectly bloomed, and their scent was already permeating her cube. She wondered if he'd used magic on them to make them so perfect, but decided not to ask. She appreciated the gesture, regardless.

Lucy sat in her chair and flipped the card open again to reread it.

_Happy Valentine's Day, Princess._

_I hope these find you in good spirits, and if not, I hope they make your day better._

_I have to work tonight, unfortunately, but I will be stopping by before the rush starts to drop you off some dinner (your favorite of course) and a gift. Don't even think about rejecting it- it's been specially ordered for you and I can't return it._

_I'll see you later._

_Love, Leo_

Lucy frowned a little as she tried to figure out what he could have possibly gotten her. He'd been hanging out with her a lot, even more than when Natsu had first left, as he tried to make amends for what happened.

She had been assured, multiple times, that she was as safe as she could ever be, after a few special visits. He had taken her away from her home for a day shortly after they'd returned from the demon realm where she'd been held while her home was reinforced with magic. Apparently the remaining six demon kings, who had had no part in Zeref's plan, and the angel king had all visited and added their own protections to her home. Loke claimed that nothing in all the realms was as safe as her home was, and there was no risk on her life anymore.

Lucy had asked why they hadn't done that in the beginning, if it would have made her safer. Loke claimed that the large flux of magic was a risk, at least until it settled, and with none of her other relatives having had any trouble in the past, they'd thought it would be better to use the less is more approach again. She hadn't thought that was such a great idea, for obvious reasons, but hadn't argued that point.

What she had done, however, was demand to speak to Loke's king. He'd fought her, of course, but she'd been adamant and eventually convinced him. They'd arrived shortly before the angel king was finished with her home and she had asked, with a little less finesse than she probably should have, to have Loke remain her guardian. With the way things had turned out, it was in her best interests to know the risks, and she didn't want Loke punished for his role in telling her about what was happening.

Turns out, he had already decided to let Loke stay. He'd thought about punishing the angel later for disobeying, but all things considered, Loke had done his job the best he could to protect her. Now, with the additional protections, she was even safer, and it would be a waste of effort and magic to try and switch guardians.

Lucy stuck the card back in its holder and turned back towards her computer to go back to work, part of her still wondering what on earth he could be bringing her later.

* * *

"Are you sure, Lucy?" Juvia asked.

"Completely positive?" Levy added.

"_Yes_, now would you guys go away? I can see both Gajeel and Gray waiting for you," Lucy said as she gestured out the window of the front lobby. "Just go, I can walk home alone."

"Never alone," Cana said as she finally joined them. "I can give you a ride."

"No, I want to walk." Lucy groaned in frustration. "You're all too stubborn by half."

"You're welcome," Cana said with a grin.

"Just _go_. I want to walk. I'll be gorging on chocolate and delicious cuisine from Loke's place later. I could use the exercise now to even it out a bit." It took a little more convincing, but eventually they all went their separate ways, allowing Lucy to head out on her own.

As Lucy headed home, she couldn't help but think about the last time she'd walked home before meeting Natsu. It was a little cooler out than it had been that day, but everything else was close to the same. She dodged a lot of the same foot traffic and followed the same path all the way home.

As usual, when she passed the fish shop and turned down their alley, the owner hollered at her to be careful.

She walked on the right side of the alley to avoid the smelly dumpster behind the fish shop.

She avoided the puddle under the broken air conditioner that always ran too high.

She hopped over the crack that was approximately knee height, which she knew from experience.

She avoided looking down the left alley as she passed the dirty movie rental place.

She held her breath at the end as she passed over the sewer grate and returned to the sidewalk.

If she was honest, she'd enjoyed her friends being so attentive the last few weeks, but if she really wanted to go back to normal, she needed to get back to basics, which included her former walk home down the sketchy back alley. She hadn't gone that way since Natsu had been around, and it felt good to walk down it again, even if she was alone again.

With a grin, Lucy stopped at the bakery on the corner near her house and got a slice of cheesecake. Loke's restaurant had great desserts, but the bakery's cheesecake couldn't be beat. When she finally made it home, Plue greeted her the same as always and she got him a treat, deciding to spoil him a little bit. "Consider this an appetizer, buddy. I think we both earned a little indulgence tonight, don't you?" Plue meowed loudly before scarfing down the little fish flavored snacks.

As she left the kitchen, Lucy glanced around the living room, glad that Loke and Erza had agreed to return Natsu's things. She felt better having the red blanket back in its spot on the couch, and the dragon painting hanging once more over her desk. She glanced over her shoulder, at Plue's feather toy and the ceiling mounted cat bed, which he was already climbing back into to look out the window. Some of Natsu's favorite hot sauces were on a shelf in her living room and when she passed by them, she took a deep breath, taking in the faint aroma.

She was still smiling when she entered her bedroom. When she turned on her lamp, she turned towards her vanity, wondering once more if she'd chosen the right place for Igneel's statue. That had taken some arguing, but eventually, Erza had agreed to retrieve it for her from Natsu's nest.

She'd purchased a new shelf and hung it on the center of her wall, just to the right of her desk. It had been too big for any of the other shelves in her apartment, and having it in her room felt right since she'd always seen him in her dreams. As she studied it, she wondered if perhaps she should have put it over her bed, like a dream catcher, so it could help keep chasing those bad dreams away. She was still thinking about it an hour later when she was finishing getting dressed after her bath, until her doorbell rang.

"That's Loke, Plue," Lucy said, but the feline was already across the room and heading out the door toward the kitchen.

When she finally made it to the front room, where Plue was meowing and pacing near the door, she realized something. "Is it because you're Leo _the Lion_ that Plue likes you so much?" she asked without preamble.

Loke laughed as he bent down to pet Plue between his ears. "I think so. I've found that most cats are unusually fond of me, but there's no way for me to be sure."

"I think it is." Lucy leaned towards the side as she looked passed Loke out onto the sidewalk. "What on earth is that?"

Loke scooted Plue back with his foot before he stepped outside to grab the box he'd left on her step. "This is your gift."

"Leo, whatever it is, it's way too big-"

"Did you not get my note? It's a special order and I can't return it. Consider it an apology from the Zodiac."

Lucy blinked several times as he set the box in the middle of her kitchen and set a bag on the counter that he'd had hanging off his elbow. The box was waist high and covered in colorful wrapping paper, tied with a ribbon and topped with a huge bow, nothing like what she had expected. "I knew you were giving me something, but this is-"

"_For you_," Loke insisted.

Lucy shut the door and then came into the room to walk around it. "What is it?"

"You'll have to open it and see," Loke said. "Like I said, I have to work tonight, but I wanted to drop this off first."

Lucy frowned as she studied the box. Loke had a mischievous smile on his face and it worried her. "You said it's from the Zodiac?"

"Mostly the king, but yes, it's from all of us." His smile faded as he stared down at the box. "We all feel terrible about what happened. About you nearly dying, and all the kidnappings, and Natsu having to sacrifice himself to save all our asses. My king just informed me what he was up to yesterday so that I could arrange to bring it over her today."

"Because it's Valentine's Day?"

Leo nodded. "It felt very… prophetic that it should be ready for you today."

Lucy crossed her arms. "Alright, what aren't you telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look like the lion that ate the canary."

"I believe the saying is cat, Lucy."

"Well you're no cat." Lucy leaned forward to start ripping the gift open.

"Hold on," Loke said and then moved toward the door. "I think it will be better if I'm not here for this."

"What? Why?" Lucy immediately released the ribbon on the gift.

"Don't worry, it won't bite." He ducked back around the wall to give her a little smile and a wink. "At least, not much." And then he was gone.

Lucy, thoroughly confused, but more than a little curious, only lasted a few seconds before she grabbed the ribbon again and finished untying it.

Before she could remove anymore, the box began to move and exploded in a shower of packing peanuts and wrapping paper as the sides split and something busted out.

"Did he not even consider that I have to _breathe_ now?! Where are my air holes?!" Natsu whipped around from side to side. "Where is he? I owe him a punch in the face!"

Lucy looked out her window in time to see Loke give her a wave and smile before disappearing. Tears filled her eyes as she turned back and drank in the sight of Natsu, standing in her kitchen once more.

He was wearing jeans and a familiar long sleeved red shirt with his scarf wrapped firmly around his neck, as usual. He continued to grumble as he dug his way out of the box, making a mess of her kitchen. "Sealing the damn thing with magic, how dare he? And I still don't understand the reason for the styrofoam bits. It's not like it made the trip any easier. And I'm pretty sure he dropped me on purpose on the way here. He _laughed_ when he did it!"

_Natsu_. Lucy mouthed his name, but nothing came out. No sound, no air, nothing. As Natsu thrashed about trying to get out of the paper, packing peanuts, and the box itself, Lucy's knees gave out and she sank to the floor. She gasped as she was finally able to take in air. Once. Twice. Three times before Natsu finally seemed to notice. He stopped, one leg still stuck in the box, and turned her way.

When Lucy was finally able to make a sound, it was only a whisper. "Natsu…" Her tears were falling so hard and fast she could barely see him as he dove across the room to take her into his arms.

Natsu was there, in her kitchen.

Natsu was there, holding her.

Natsu was somehow _there_, and even if he was some trick, made of some sort of magic, she would care in the morning.

Because for a while at least, Natsu was with her again, and _nothing_ could spoil that for her.

* * *

Natsu forgot about his annoyance with Leo. He forgot about his annoyance with his new body. He forgot about having to give up his family. He forgot about dying. All he cared about was that he was back and Lucy was once more in his arms.

As she sobbed, she clung to him hard enough he had trouble breathing, a feat he'd never thought possible for himself, but he didn't care. "Oh Luce, I am so sorry, love. I am so, so sorry."

He didn't know how long he'd been gone. The angels hadn't spoken to him much about what was going on with Lucy as they'd basically rebuilt him. He wasn't entirely sure which ones he'd worked with, only that Leo hadn't been involved until he was needed for the delivery.

When he'd first woken up, he'd been in a glass aquarium filled to the brink with some strange pink liquid, a breathing mask on his face and nothing else. He'd panicked, of course, until Virgo had appeared and calmed him down. Somehow, in the moment that his life had ended as he cast the time reversal spell, the angel king had appeared and saved his essence or soul or whatever before it had disappeared.

They'd used it to build him a new body, Virgo had explained. A human body that wasn't as strong and would grow old and someday die. He hadn't been happy about that, and he let them know it, but he hadn't seen the truth of what they'd done for him until she'd spelled it out for him.

"_With your new body, you will be human, Natsu. A mostly ordinary human, who will be able to live out a life in the human realm. Do you not understand what that means?"_

"_That I'm going to be weak and I'm going to be magicless. What's the point if I can't even use my fire or my magic or transform into a dragon anymore? You should have just let me die."_

_Virgo had stared at him for a long while, hoping, he assumed, that he'd figure it out on his own. When he just continued to stare with his arms crossed, she finally sighed. "Natsu, by giving you this body, our king not only gave you back your life, but he gave you a form that you can return to Lucy with. As a human, you can live out the rest of her life with her, and she can be with you again._

"_As a human, you can't mate with her in a way that will cause her life span to change, so she can still fulfill her part of the prophecy and save the realms, as she is intended to. Do you understand now?"_

Natsu had felt so stupid. He hadn't even thought about how his new form could be a good thing, he'd just immediately thought about the bad. As he held Lucy in his arms again, though, he wondered if there was some way for him to repay the angel king for what he'd done. He'd thanked him before he was sent with Leo, of course, but it didn't seem like enough anymore.

"Luce, love, I am so glad that you're safe. I didn't know if my spell would work, I just knew that it was the only chance you had."

"You… idiot…"

"I know." Natsu wiped the tears away that were falling from his own eyes, before pulling Lucy away and wiping at hers with his thumbs. "How long have I been gone? The angels wouldn't tell me anything while they were putting me back together."

"It's been… over a month." Lucy tried to catch her breath, but it was hard. A large part of her was so overwhelmed, all she wanted to do was cry herself dry, but the rest of her resisted. She still didn't know what was happening, and if she only had a limited time with this Natsu, she didn't want to spend more of it than she already had crying.

"Natsu… is it really you? Are you really here?"

"In the flesh," Natsu answered with a nod. "The less durable, more maintenance required, flesh."

Lucy frowned. "I don't understand."

"I'm human now."

"You're… but how?"

"Magic," Natsu said with a grin, his fangs flashing.

Lucy couldn't believe it. She poked at his arms, pulled on his hair a little, stuck her finger in his mouth to poke at his still sharp teeth. "You look just the same."

"As my human form, yeah, but that's all I have now. No more dragon, no more demon, just this. Just this," he said as he gestured at himself and then leaned forward to nuzzle her cheek and neck, "and you. Gods, Luce, I would have given up anything to be able to be with you again."

"So this is… real? You're really here? And you're staying?"

"Yep." Natsu sat down and crossed his legs before pulling her forward to sit in his lap. Once they were both comfortable, he told her about what had happened.

About the king saving his soul and building him a new body. About the Zodiac helping him learn about his new limits and how to fully fit into the human realm. About how they'd found a way for him to still have magic, even if it wasn't as abundant as he'd had in the past.

_As Virgo worked with him to teach him about jobs and money, Natsu saw a familiar face among the angels in the lab. "Mao?"_

_The researcher looked up, his face instantly illuminating in a smile. "Natsu! I didn't know you were out already!"_

"_I've been out off and on for a few… uh, days I guess? What are you doing here?"_

"_Oh, I'm here as a favor to Leo. Well, I owe him quite a bit, so really I'm just working on paying that off."_

"_But what are you doing?"_

"_I'm helping them perfect the chemical composition of the MPFN."_

_Natsu blinked. "I have no idea what that means."_

_Mao smiled. "It's what I call the potion they've been working on, the Magic Potion For Natsu."_

_Natsu frowned and got up, leaving Virgo behind as he moved to look at the bottle in Mao's hands. "What kind of potion?"_

"_A magic potion of course." Mao laughed at his joke, but cut himself off when Natsu glared. "I'm sorry, but that's what it is. It's designed to give a human body magic."_

"_What? How?"_

_Mao laughed again. "That would be much too complicated to explain, and I know you have a lot to work on with Virgo, so I don't want to keep you. What you need to know is that humans can't produce their own magic, but their bodies can hold a limited amount. Your old body would generate magic based on how much you had used, but this body won't do that. Instead, we'll keep you supplied with bottles of this potion so that you can still have access to magic. _

"_It won't be in the quantities you're used to, and if you try to use up too many at once, you're going to get very ill, but as long as you keep up the right dosage, you'll still have limited access to your old abilities."_

"_If I use-"_

_Mao cut him off with a small push in Virgo's direction. "I still have some things to work out with it, so I don't have any answers about usage right now. Go back to working with Virgo. Before you leave here, I'll talk to you about how to use it, and I'll still be living next door, so you can always come talk to me if you have questions later. For now, focus on what the angels are trying to teach you."_

"_Alright, alright, I'm going." Natsu took a step, but then turned back around. "One more question, though."_

"_Just one," Mao said with a small smile._

"_How is Lucy?"_

_Mao's smile faltered and his eyes became sad. "She'll be happy to have you back," he answered eventually._

Lucy remained quiet when he finished his story, no doubt going over the details in her head to be sure she understood everything. Natsu didn't mind the quiet. He just sat there and soaked up the closeness, one of his hands rubbing circles on the back of the hand he held while the other remained firmly wrapped around her waist.

When she finally spoke again, her voice was quiet, but no longer filled with tears. "I thought I'd lost you forever."

Natsu kissed her temple. "I did, too."

Lucy pulled away. "You know I'm still upset with you for giving up your life for mine, right?"

He nodded. "I figured as much. Even so, I would do it the same over and over again if I had to." He released her hand and pulled her face close to his so he could press his forehead to hers. "There is no realm in the world I could find peace if I'd allowed you live when I had the ability to save you."

"Promise me you won't do it again."

Natsu shook his head a little. "I can't do that. I may be human, but the instincts are the same. You are my mate and there is _nothing_ in this world I wouldn't do for you. You'll just have to accept it and keep yourself safe if you don't want me doing anything crazy. Deal?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Deal." She reached up and wiped away a tear. "You know, there's something I haven't said yet that I'm super late in telling you."

"What's that?" Natsu asked as he released her cheek and resumed his hold on her hand.

Lucy used her free hand to gently steer his face to hers so she could kiss him. The kiss was gentle, unhurried, and didn't last long, but that was how she intended it to be. When she pulled away, she didn't move far before she spoke again. "I love you, Natsu."

Natsu's grin was instant and blinding and he yanked her close so he could kiss her, hard. "I am so glad you finally said it."

"It's not like you told me with enough time for me to respond," she pointed out.

"Yeah, well, life or death circumstance and all that." He kissed her again and then tightened his hold. "I love you, too, by the way. I already told you, but I want to tell you again."

"You can tell me as many times as you want," she said.

"How about I tell you on the way to your room? This floor is uncomfortable, and what I really want right now is to take you to a bed."

Lucy laughed. "Well you were right about one thing. The instincts are still the same."

"You have no idea," Natsu said. "It may be a new body, but it's the same me, appetites and all." He growled and then bit her neck, causing Lucy to squeal as he stood with her still in his arms.

After a quick stop at the doorway, which Natsu used to help brand Lucy's mouth with his own and fix his grip on her, he made his way towards her bedroom, words of love falling from his lips the entire way.

Later, when they were sweaty and exhausted, he told her again. And again and again and again. And he would continue to tell her, any time the fancy struck him, for the rest of their lives together, no matter how short or long that may be. Lucy deserved that much, because she had done the impossible.

Tamed a demon with love.

* * *

"I have a question."

"Just one?"

"Haha, very funny."

"I thought it was."

"Geez, can you just be serious for a second?"

Lucy laughed. "I'm sorry. What's your question?"

"When we were under Zeref's castle, and you saw me… You recognized me, right?"

"Yeah, although I don't remember seeing you in that form before, I knew it was you."

"Okay, so my question is how? How did you recognize me?" Natsu turned and propped himself up on his elbow so he could see her face better. "My demon form aside, how did you remember me? Leo said he erased me from your memory."

Lucy was careful to keep her face blank as Erza's face came to mind. If the demon wanted to keep her actions secret for some reason, it wasn't Lucy's place to reveal her.

"I have no idea," she said. As Natsu stared off into space, Lucy hastened to distract him. "I have a question, too."

"What's that?"

"I know we can't do it anymore, but how exactly does a dragon mark his mate?"

Natsu's eyes instantly cleared and focused on her, a grin slowly working its way across his face. "Interested are you?"

"I've always been interested."

He chuckled as he ran a hand down her side and over her hip under the covers. "It it involves some flying, some biting, and some, er… rather indecent activities."

"Oh really?" Lucy momentarily got distracted, thinking about the logistics of it. "That sounds rather dangerous."

"It's not, when it's two dragons and they can both fly." His hands stopped on her hip, rubbing in slow circles. "You know, I think I have enough magic I could show you… _exactly_," he leaned down to nuzzle her neck, "how it's done."

Lucy sighed a little as he kissed his way up her neck to play with her ear. After a few seconds, she pulled away with a wicked grin. "If you think you can manage it, I think I would like to see how it's done."

Natsu didn't have to be told twice. He threw Lucy over his shoulder and got up out of the bed, not even pausing as he headed out of their room so he could bring her outside. Lucy laughed as he carried her through the apartment, not at all worried about their state of dress or where they were going.

She wasn't sure there was anywhere she couldn't or wouldn't go anymore.

Not as long as she had her mate by her side.

* * *

**Somehow, this one ended up only being my second longest chapter. One of the NSFW chapters ended up being a few hundred bigger than this. Oh well.**

**Reminder that I have another story that's about 75% written! It'll probably be a few months before I get around to finishing, editing, and sharing it, but if you're at all interested, make sure you guys follow me so you get the update once it's available- I don't want you to miss out! (It's not NEARLY as long as this one. Even once I'm done with it it won't be, but I still think it'll be a fun read.)**

**Guys, it's done! This marks the end of my longest (to date) story ever! I said it a while back, but I have to say it again- THANK YOU. You guys made this worth doing. Whether it was following, favoriting, reviewing, or even just reading, your interest and time made me want to keep going. I said from the beginning I was doing this because I couldn't find a finished demon summoning story for Fairy Tail, and while I would have finished it anyway, it would not have been nearly as fun (or probably as long) if it hadn't generated so much interest. Even though it's not quite what I was expecting, and I have my issues with it, of course, I'm glad that I completed it, and I am eternally grateful for you guys joining me on the ride.**

**You guys are the best. I hope you all find more great stories on here and inspire others to write something even better than this one. Thank you for everything guys- I love each and every one of you.**

**And as always, happy reading.**

* * *

**Excerpt from my upcoming story! (AU of course.) It's a bit long and completely unedited, but it's got most of the back story in it so you can decide if it's something you'd be interested in reading later: **

When they finally exited the building, Lucy paused a moment to look around her property. When she'd bought it nearly five years ago, she never would have known it would become so successful.

When her father had passed away and she'd inherited his fortune, her first thought had been to use it to help people. While she'd been trying to figure out how to do that, an illness had spread through the spirit world. It had caused the deaths of many, including her friend Plue. Even worse, once the zodiac spirits had begun to get sick, constellations had begun to fall from the sky. Lucy had begun searching even more fervently for answers once that had happened, and within a week, she had found the answer. She'd been able to procure a remedy fairly quickly, and once everyone had begun to heal and the stars had returned, Lucy had decided that what she wanted to do was help magical creatures. There were many around the country, and she knew there was a lack of help for those that were sick or injured.

Once she'd made up her mind, she'd begun to search for a place to do just that, and found this property. It had been a zoo, once upon a time, so it had been easy to clean up and repurpose as a rehabilitation center. The enclosures had been thoroughly cleaned and set up as a variety of environments so she could house a larger range of creatures. Not only that, but it was only three hours from the coast and two hours from Mt. Hakobe, which was so cold you could find snow at the base of the mountain all year long, even in the middle of the summer. It was also only half an hour away from Magnolia, so she was close enough to the best healer she'd ever met, Porlyusica. And so, the home of Heartfilia Magical Creature Rehabilitation had been chosen.

Her guild had been sad when she'd decided to leave, but they'd understood. They'd even come to her for help on occasion with a job or even brought her injured critters they found while they were working. It had worked out well, especially since Levy had agreed to become a co-owner with her. Now that she and Gajeel had married, they'd been spending half their time with her and half their time at the guild. Gajeel had quickly decided he wanted to help with the large reptiles and drakes that came through, so he'd been studying as hard as Levy to understand how the different species worked, and as far as Lucy could tell, he was enjoying himself immensely.

Within the first year they'd even had a young dragon come through that he'd gotten to help train to fly. The little guy's parents had abandoned him while he was young and he'd never had the chance to learn, so Gajeel had worked tirelessly, once Lucy had gotten him healthy, and he'd left on his own two wings to head north. He'd even come back once to visit and Gajeel had been like an overgrown child in his eagerness to spend time with the beast, who had doubled in size between visits.

Levy was also an invaluable addition, since her ability to research had proven time again to be better than her own. Her speed had more than once saved the life of the creatures staying there, and for that Lucy was extremely grateful.

Not to mention Freed had offered his help as well, once he'd found out what she was up to. He visited multiple times a month to help create and sustain the rune barriers on the enclosures, securing more than one hostile beast while they recovered. Mira even come out on occasion to help her cook. Lucy had been taking lessons, so her skills had vastly improved, but nothing could beat Mira's cooking.


	82. Chapter 82

**Surprise! I have one last little update for you guys! I have one more scene I wanted to share that I cut from the story and didn't rewrite. This one was supposed to be on the end, but while I was editing, it just didn't fit anymore. That said, I wanted you guys to know what was (now unofficially) going on behind the scenes. Plus, I never officially confirmed why Leo's memory wipe didn't stick.**

**Also, for those who followed Surprise Guest, my delivery went well (and fast) and baby and I are doing great! Our eldest is having some issues with sharing mom and dad's attention, but other than that, things are going well. And I have started separating my other story into smaller parts so I can get started on editing soon and finish the writing, so look forward to that soon!**

**Also- part two- I put up a one shot, so check it out if you're interested!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

When the prophecy is nigh and the worlds are on the verge

Only one can save the heir

Although memories can be covered

In this moment

They should be aired

For the one they concern

Would sacrifice everything

To reverse what must be undone

Three times tried, three times failed

The prophecy is destined to succeed

And the origin gone forever

With a snap, the book was closed and tossed into the crackling fire. With Zeref successfully defeated, and Natsu returned to Lucy's side, there was no need for the lesser known Blood Prophecy. With no one the wiser about her family's role in creating them, the demon leaned back as she watched the fire reduce the little book to ash, her long red hair illuminated by the blaze.

She could finally rest.


	83. Chapter 83

**Hey guys, I'm pretty excited to jump back in to the Surprise Guest world. I had an idea for a scene to write a few days ago, but by the time I committed to doing this... I completely forgot what it was. Hopefully I remember eventually, but in the meantime, here's your first extra scene!**

**This one is from the night Natsu arrived, while he and Happy worked on cleaning the kitchen. It's just a short little thing, but don't the best meals start with an appetizer? (Also, this one is just for funzies- it is not canon to the story.)**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

Happy groaned as he shook his paw, trying to get the paper towel to fall off. The dumb things kept getting stuck on his claws and they weren't stopping anything from soaking through and messing up his fur. "This is disgusting."

"Maybe next time you'll reconsider before you make a mess." Natsu tossed the rag in his hand into the sink before flipping the last chair up onto the table. "Chairs are done."

"Did you remember to do the table first?" Happy asked.

"Of course I did! I'm not that dumb."

"Just making sure," Happy giggled. "It's not like you do a lot of cleaning."

"Hey!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Natsu cringed as Lucy's voice interrupted their conversation. "I have work in the morning and I need TO SLEEP!"

"Sorry Lucy!" Natsu called. He listened carefully and only resumed cleaning once he heard her settle back into her bed. "Wow she's angry. But I don't blame her."

"Couldn't you have found a better master to serve?" Happy asked.

"It's not like there's a line of them just waiting to make a contract! I couldn't be picky. She's the first person to summon me in over a hundred years."

Happy frowned. "That's not true. There was-"

"Don't even say the name, Happy, or I will get Lucy to send you back right now."

"Fine, fine, geez."

A couple hours later, they were only about half way done when Happy suddenly sat up and stared at Natsu, hard.

When Natsu finally noticed, he frowned. "What? Why are you staring at me?"

"Natsu..."

"Yeah?..."

"I don't mean to sound dumb, but... why don't you just use your magic to clean this up?"

Natsu froze mid stretch. He blinked a few times as he slowly lowered his arms. "I didn't even-"

"Natsu!" Happy yelled as he tossed down his rag. "You idiot! We could have been-"

"IF I HEAR EVEN A WHISPER FROM THAT ROOM FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT, I SWEAR I WILL SEND YOU BOTH BACK TO HELL WITH A SWIFT KICK AND ZERO REGRETS!"

Natsu quickly cleaned up the kitchen, grabbed Happy and silently left the house. They could return later, once Lucy was fully asleep.

And a lot less angry.


	84. Chapter 84

**Extra scene for Surprise Guest: Take Two. Action! **

**(I have an idea for a NSFW scene, so if you're following those chapters, expect one over there soon!)**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Natsu, this is crazy!"

"Shhh!" Natsu slapped his hand over Happy's mouth and pulled him into the corner. "I'm only going to try it once, okay? I'm just curious."

"She told you you shouldn't do it."

"If you're so against it, just go stand in the hall!"

Happy huffed and then floated towards the door. "Just don't kill her when she surprises you again."

Natsu froze as Happy's words floated across the space between them. Was he right? Was this a bad idea? He'd hurt her earlier, but that was because he'd been surprised. This was different. He was instigating, so surely he could keep himself in check, right?

_She'll be fine. I got_ _this_. With a grin, he moved forward silently with his shadows and leaned over Lucy. She was slumbering peacefully in her bed with Plue curled up against her back. It was completely black in her room so there was little light to work with, but that was okay. He would just keep his hand near hers to stop her in case she tried to hit him. That was the goal here anyway, to see if she exaggerated.

Natsu grinned and then reached forward to nudge Lucy's shoulder. She didn't respond the first or second time, frustrating him. He reached forward with both hands and shook her once more-

And found himself flat on his back on the floor.

Natsu hissed as he covered his nose with both hands, doing his best to catch the blood that began to flow out of his nose. "Damn it, Luce," he whispered to himself. He used his shadows to slide across the floor out of the room and to the bathroom before getting to his feet. Happy appeared in the doorway, bluer than usual as he tried to stifle his laughter.

He didn't let go of his nose until the water was running and then allowed the blood to flow freely down his face. "Holy _shit_ Lucy has a strong punch." He tried to wipe his nose, but as he rubbed it with his finger, he cursed out loud when his nose exploded in pain. Looking up at the mirror, he could see his nose bent at an odd angle.

Happy's laughter escaped then as he gasped to catch his breath. "She... broke... your... nose! Hahahahaha!"

"Would you quiet down already?!" Natsu's finger began to glow and then he pressed them against his nose and pushed it straight again with a groan. After a few moments he let go, the pain gone and his nose completely healed.

Happy wiped away his tears and then floated away. "She did warn you."

"Yeah yeah." Natsu sighed as he looked at the mess he'd made of Lucy's bathroom.

Happy appeared in the doorway again with a stern look. "And don't you dare leave this room until you clean up that blood! I don't wanna get chewed out again," he muttered before leaving.

With a chuckle, Natsu finished cleaning up his face and then ensured that every drop of blood was cleaned up before returning to his room.

The next morning, Lucy came into kitchen with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked as he stirred the pan in front of him.

"My hand is killing me," she said as she studied it. "My knuckles are even a little bruised. I feel like I punched brick wall, but I didn't hit anything yesterday so I don't know what's going on."

With the best poker face he could muster, Natsu sat next to her and took her hand in his. A pale green light surrounded his hands as he carefully healed her sore knuckles, his gut twisting as he did so. He hadn't even considered that she might get hurt hitting him. What an idiot he'd been.

"So, how did it feel?"

Natsu kept his eyes on his task, not trusting his face to not reveal something. "How did what feel?"

"Me hitting you." When his eyes flashed to hers, she chuckled. "As soon as I told you about it last night I saw the challenge in your eyes, and today I woke up with a bruised hand. It wasn't hard to figure out."

Face hot, Natsu glanced away. "I'm sorry, Lucy."

"Did it hurt at least?"

Natsu nodded. "You broke my nose."

Lucy gaped at him. "Really?" When he nodded, she began to smile.

He frowned. "Why do you look so excited?"

"Because I broke a _demon's nose_," she said in awe. "I'm amazing!"

Natsu chuckled as he got back to his feet and returned to the stove. "Half demon," he corrected her.

"You saying your dragon blood makes you weaker than full blood demons?"

"Are you kidding? It makes me even stronger," he bragged.

"Then I'm even more amazing than I thought."

Natsu's smile twitched as Lucy moved to make coffee, her humming louder than usual as she smirked at him out of the corner of her eye. With a shake of his head, Natsu finished making her omelet, buoyed by her happiness.

A broke nose was a small price to pay for happiness. Especially when it made him so happy in return.


	85. Chapter 85

**I had this idea a while ago, so I'm glad I finally found time to write it. This was written quickly and is unedited, but I hope you still enjoy!**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

"Uh... Mao? You okay?" Ova called.

"I am fine, dearest!"

Ova contemplated the empty doorway for a few more moments before standing. He'd been working when Mao returned from the store nearly two hours prior, but his mate had told him to continue with his work while he began practicing in the kitchen. Ova had been certain there was no harm in letting him try to cook, but since then, there had been several concerning noises, and there was currently some sort of beeping going on and the sounds of a creature moving around. He grabbed his knife, just in case, and quickly moved through their home.

"Good job, dog, you're just about done cleaning up!"

Dread settled in Ova's gut as he rounded the corner and found the kitchen in complete disarray. Every counter seemed to be covered in a variety of substances, with the floor doing only slightly better due to the efforts of a large dog, who was currently licking up a puddle of red. Setting aside his knife, Ova moved forward to join Mao, who was teetering on a chair and trying to stop the smoke detector from going off. "What on Sileoden are you doing?"

"Mao! I was just pulled out the last pie and this blasted thing started making noise!"

"Let me fix it." Mao hopped down, nearly toppling over as he landed in a pile of something, and Ova quickly removed the battery from the detector so it would stop going off.

"Oh blessed _Xdeaehencee_, that is so much better."

"I have several questions," Ova said as he was suddenly jumped on by the dog who had finally noticed his presence. It barked at him twice before sniffing him vigorously and rubbing its head against Ova's hands. "First of all, why do you have a canine?"

"Isn't she marvelous!" Mao got down on his knees and crooned at the dog as he rubbed its head. "Her name is Beef and she's a dog! I was looking online to find a good way to clean the floor in here, and there were all sorts of cleaning recipes and tools and then I saw someone suggest one of these beasties and I just couldn't resist! This girl looked so sad at the shelter, I just had to get her! Do you like her? She was expensive to rent, but she has been absolutely worth it!"

Ova sighed. "Mao, dear, you don't _rent_ dogs, you _adopt_ them."

"Oh." Mao's eyes widened. "_Oooooh_. Oh dear. I am so sorry, dearest, I should have asked you before acquiring another resident for our home."

"It's okay," Ova reassured him with a soft smile. "I rather like her."

"And she smiles! Apparently that is rare among these creatures."

_A pit_ _bull_, Ova thought to himself. It was a good thing they were in their home by means of the angels. From his research, he'd discovered that pits tended to have a bad reputation and many places that rented out living quarters didn't allow them. "Why on earth are you using her to clean, though?"

"It seemed the safer way, since I am unfamiliar with the chemicals used on this world. I did not want to inadvertently get us sick."

"That seems like a good idea, but you can't feed her by dropping food on the floor." Ova pet the dog on the head, who looked up at him with a wide smile and wagging tail. "Dogs eat special food, and if you give them the wrong human food, they could get sick or die."

"WHAT?!" Mao slapped his hands over his mouth. "Oh dear oh dear, do you think she's going to be okay?"

"We will have to do some research, but she seems okay, so she probably hasn't eaten anything bad yet. What have you been making?"

Instantly, Mao's excitement returned and he jumped to his feet to show off the many food items around the room. "This one is a meat pie. This one is a cherry pie. This one is a berry pie and also I made an apple pie! I did not see a recipe for orange pie, so I just recreated the one for apple, because oranges are delightful and I wanted a pie for them, oh, and I think this one might have been a joke because it required wet dirt and I did not see dirt as part of the edible food list I found earlier-"

"Why are you making so many?"

"Why do you know so much about dogs?" Mao countered as his ears began to redden. "I have my reasons," he defended himself.

Ova squinted at him. "Is this because of the meal with Lucy?"

"No," Mao answered too quickly.

Ova smiled and then answered Mao's question. "I know a little about dogs because we often see them when we go out walking and I was curious about why humans have them. I wanted to know if they served some purpose, or if we needed one of our own for protection."

"Oh." Mao glanced at Beef, who had stretched out in the corner and fallen asleep. "Well I am glad you did. We will need to make sure we acquire suitable food for her."

"I will go figure out what I need to in a bit for her," Ova said with a smile. "You're supposed to be the smart one," he sighed, " and yet, you always forget to do your research when you find something new and shiny to play with."

"That is not true!" Mao huffed.

Ova wrapped his arms around Mao as the alien contemplated the sleeping canine. "Why don't you tell me why you're making so much food. We won't be able to eat all of this before it goes bad."

"I'm just... practicing. This world has much more food than ours did. I'm used to the thirty six plants back home, but only a handful of them are similar to things found here, and humans also eat different kinds of liquid and even animals. I just want to get better so that we don't embarrass ourselves."

"Love, you can't lie to me," Ova said with a grin. "You want to impress Lucy, don't you?"

Mao didn't even try to argue. "I just..." He finally looked Ova's way, revealing shiny eyes. "She was so supportive. No one's ever been that supportive of us before-"

"Zalanoon was."

"He didn't care," Mao corrected. "That is not the same."

"I suppose." Ova kissed Mao's cheek. "How about you clean up some of this mess and then we'll take a break? I have some rope in my office, I'll make a lead for the dog and we can go for a walk. Afterwards, we'll go to the shop in town and get some things for her."

Mao smiled as he squeezed the arms wrapped around his middle. "Do you think Lucy likes dogs?"

"I'm sure she does," Ova replied as he slowly released his mate, allowing his fingers to move suggestively against Mao's sides. "We can stop and introduce them if you want?"

"Oooo, yes, let's!" Mao kissed Ova firmly on the lips before dashing off to change his clothes.

Ova sighed and glanced at the dog. "Completely forgot to clean up," he said fondly. Beef didn't even stir. With one more sigh, Ova quickly wrapped up the pies an set them on the mostly clean table before wiping down the counters. He had just finished up when Mao returned to the kitchen, changed and ready to go. "Let's go let's go let's- oh no I didn't clean up!"

"It's alright," Ova said. He set the rag in the sink before moving to kiss his beloved once more. "Just let me grab the rope and change my shirt so we can go."

Mao smiled at him fondly. "Alright."

As Ova changed his shirt, Mao called out, "What do you think we should do with the food?

With a devilish smirk, Ova closed the closet. "Maybe we should give them to Leo, to thank him for his hospitality!"

He rounded the corner to find Mao staring at him with wide eyes. "Ova, that's a great idea!" Hiding his smile, Ova tied his rope to Beef's collar and then helped Mao grab his pies so they could leave.

Earth was a complicated place to be. It was nothing like their home planet, but in many ways that was a good thing. They had a lot to learn, and Ova knew there would be struggles, but he didn't mind. He had Mao and a place where his beloved could be happy. So long as he had that, so long as they had each other, they would figure the rest out.

Plus, where else would he have the opportunity to pick on a guardian angel this way?

Leo sighed as he finally turned off the last light and headed towards the back door to leave. It had been a long day, but he'd enjoyed himself. Now he was headed home for a hot shower and a nice meal by himself, in the quiet of his own home.

As he opened the back door, he paused when he saw the small stack of boxes directly in his way.

Had someone forgotten to count an order? He frowned as he leaned down and picked up the note taped to the top.

_Leo,_

_Mao has started learning to cook human food. He made too much for us, so I am hoping you'll be able to help us eat some of it. _

_He is very excited about it. I know that you own a restaurant, and I believe that you're input would be invaluable at helping him improve, so please at least try everything so you can give him some feedback. I made sure you had a bit of every dish._

_Thanks in advance for your help._

_-Ova_

_P.S. Word your criticism wisely. If you make him cry, I will not be pleased._

Leo frowned as he read the note while he locked the door. Did Ova have no faith in his mate at all? The smells coming from the boxes were pleasant, so surely they had turned out okay. The man was a scientist, Leo was sure he could follow a recipe well enough. He grabbed the stack and carried it to his car. He stomach growled as he smelled the boxes, and his mouth watered as he realized there were multiple kinds of pie.

He loved pie.

"Are those... oranges?"

* * *

**And this short little bit.**

Natsu grinned as he finally got within eyesight of Lucy's home. He'd been able to hear her excited voice for a while now, so he was happy to finally be able to see what she was so thrilled about. She was on her knees in the grass in front of her home petting a large brown dog. She was cooing to the thing as though it were a baby and the dog was thrilled about the attention. Mao and Ova were nearby, watching her with a pair of smiles on their face.

As he finally joined up with them, he noticed Leo inside Lucy's kitchen, watching from the other side of the window. He frowned as he stopped next to Ova. "What's up with him?"

"I think it's Beef," Ova answered, amused. "Lucy's cat has been watching us with a rather sour look, too."

Sure enough, Plue was also glaring through the window as Lucy continued to play with the dog. "Wait, beef?" Natsu asked, confused.

"Yeah, the dog," Ova answered.

"Beef is actually from cows," Natsu informed him.

"Beef is the dog's name," Mao clarified.

"Oh." Natsu stared at the dog. "That's a bit strange."

"Humans are a bit strange," Ova muttered quietly, making both Mao and Natsu chuckle.

"Ain't that the truth."


	86. Chapter 86

**Did I hear someone ask about married life? *cough*duffieldshawn*cough* _Of course _I planned on whipping up a couple. Since editing is going slowly, here's a post story entry a bit early. (There are more planned, don't you worry!)**

**I _did _edit this one. Since these have been extras, I've mostly just been letting them through without my usual editing process, but this one I really wanted to be good.**

**As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!**

* * *

_One, two, three, four, five, six. _

_One, two, three, four, five, six._

_One, two, three, four, five, six._

Natsu paced back and forth in the office, trying to work out the anxiety building up in his gut. Unfortunately, no matter how fast or slow he made those six steps, he couldn't calm down, and the tension in his shoulders was starting to make his head hurt. When the door opened behind him, he whipped around and practically yelled, "Well?"

Gray raised an eyebrow at him. "Well what?"

"Oh, uh, nothing." Natsu's hands made a dive for his hair, but he stopped just in time. Lucy wouldn't like it if he messed up his hair. He growled as he tensed even more.

"Dude, you're literally wearing a path into the carpet," Gray said. "You need to settle down."

Natsu didn't respond as his pacing quickened even more. Instead of continuing to watch him freak out, Gray grabbed him by the arm, ignoring Natsu's protests, and dug his fingers into the other man's shoulders. "Seriously dude. Just relax. Focus on your breathing. Loosen up these muscles. Find a way to relax before you hurt yourself."

Natsu tried to pull away, but Gray wouldn't let him. Anger over his loss of strength flashed through him for a moment, distracting him from his anxiety, but he kept himself in check. Instead he focused on the fingers digging uncomfortably into his shoulders. The feel of his not-quite worn in shoes. How close Gray was and how easy it would be to flip him over onto the floor, same as if they were sparring at the gym. He listened to the hum of voices through the wall and thought about how much he'd been looking forward to this day just twenty four hours ago.

"There. Feeling a bit better?"

Natsu reminded himself that Lucy would be unhappy with him for messing up Gray's tux, and his own, if he fought the man, so instead he let out a long breath and answered gruffly. "Yeah. Better."

"Good. Now do me a favor and don't actually try to beat the snot out of me, okay? Lucy would have both our heads."

"If she's even here," Natsu grumbled.

"What?"

Before Natsu could answer, the door opened, and Juvia walked in. Her smile widened and her eyes lit up as she spotted Gray. "Gray, darling, you look wonderful!" She stepped forward and gave him a peck on the cheek as she turned towards Natsu. "Lucy is in her room downstairs, just finishing up. She said to tell you to remember to breathe, don't mess up your hair or your tux, and she promises to see you inside very soon." With a final kiss for Gray, she was gone, her pink dress floating behind her.

"I'm sorry, _what?_" Gray turned around and glared at Natsu. "That's why you're freaking out? You think Lucy would just, what, abandon you at the alter?"

Natsu knew it was crazy. He'd been through so much, _they_ had been through so much, that he knew the idea that she would leave on the day of their wedding was ludicrous. Still... things had always been weird for him when it came to love. He'd never cared much for it before meeting Lucy, and when he'd finally had an interest in it, his actions had been directed for him by his inner dragon, not him. He couldn't shake the idea that Lucy would miss that part of him, miss him being half dragon, and decide that this human version of him wasn't good enough for her. What would he do if that happened? He'd sacrificed everything for her. He'd _died_ for her.

What if that wasn't enough though? Lucy was worth so much more than he could ever provide for her, what if she finally came to her senses and decided to leave instead of tying herself to him?

Natsu stumbled when Gray suddenly punched him in the shoulder. "Are you totally nuts, or just mostly?" Natsu stared at him wide eyed as he realized some of what he'd been thinking had apparently come out of his mouth. He hoped he hadn't said too much.

"Lucy isn't going anywhere, you pea brain. She's too nice to just abandon you the day of and she's too smart to choose someone who isn't worth her time." Gray gave him a smile and squeezed his shoulder. "Try to calm down, okay? This is Lucy's day, too, and if you're too stressed, she won't be able to enjoy it, ya know? And if she can't enjoy it, I have a feeling Cana and the others are going to be after your ass."

Natsu chuckled, finally relaxing as he envisioned the maid of honor from hell coming after him. She'd definitely beat him senseless if he made Lucy worry too much. "Yeah, you're right." He focused on his breathing for a bit, and Gray finally retreated when Natsu got himself under control. Gray answered the door when the pastor came knocking. Natsu checked himself in the mirror one more time, just to be sure he was presentable.

"You ready?" Gray asked. "Time to head out."

Once he'd adjusted his flower, Natsu turned around with a grin and his stomach somewhere between his knees and his toes. "Definitely."

* * *

**And maybe next time, we'll check in with Lucy.**

**Be well.**


End file.
